America\'s Military Adversaries. From Colonial Times to the Present

Germans acquired more than 100 of these
magnificent machines, but it was far too late.
By the spring of 1945, nothing Germany did
could contest command of the sea. The final
statistics were grim: of 1,168 U-boat commis-
sioned, 784—more than half—were lost to Al-
lied countermeasures. This figure represents
the deaths of 28,000 men.
By war’s end, Dönitz was also forced to as-
sume an unexpected political role. The admi-
ral had never joined the Nazi Party, but he had
enthusiastically supported the regime and en-
joyed Hitler’s implicit confidence. Therefore,
after Hitler committed suicide in April 1945,
his will stipulated that Dönitz would succeed
him as head of the Third Reich. “I had never
received any hint on the subject from any-
body else, nor, I believe, had any other of the
other leaders ever thought of such a possibil-
ity.” Nonetheless, the admiral took office and
tried negotiating a separate peace with the
Western Allies to forestall Soviet occupation
of Germany. Failing that, on May 7, 1945,
Dönitz and Gen. Alfred Jodlsigned the arti-
cles of capitulation. Three weeks later—and
much to his surprise—Dönitz was arrested by
the authorities and charged with war crimes.
Throughout his trial he maintained simply
that he was a professional naval officer carry-
ing out the instructions of his superiors. Tried
and convicted, he was spared the death
penalty; he spent a decade behind bars at
Spandau Prison. Dönitz wrote his memoirs
while incarcerated and finally gained his free-
dom in October 1956. He spent the rest of his
life in seclusion, still revered by his former
crewmen, before dying at Ammuhle on De-
cember 24, 1980. Dönitz was certainly one of
the most brilliant naval strategists in military
history. Had Hitler accorded him sufficient re-

sources to conduct U-boat warfare as he envi-

sioned, Germany might have prevailed in

World War II.

See also

Hitler, Adolf; Jodl, Alfred

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DÖNITZ, KARL