General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Doenitz defenders
Posted by:
Don Baker
()
Date: June 19, 2001 03:59PM
<HTML>Hello JD
I understand your feelings but I doubt there are few, if any, participants in this forum who would defend the policies of National Socialism. Admiral Doenitz remains a controversial figure and there has been much discussion about him on this forum.
In order to present another viewpoint on the matter, I offer the following:
“The outstanding example of barefaced hypocrisy at Nuremberg was the trial of Admiral Doenitz. We tried him on three charges: (1) conspiring to wage aggressive war; (2) Waging aggressive war; and (3) Violation of the laws of war at sea. Even the loaded court at Nuremberg acquitted him of the first charge, but convicted him of the other two. How in the name of common sense a military officer can wage any kind of war except an aggressive one without being a traitor to his country, I’ll never know. I took an oath when I entered the U.S.Navy almost forty years ago, to defend the United States against all enemies – and there wasn’t anything said about doing it in a non-aggressive manner. ….If the Nuremberg evidence had shown that Doenitz waged a non-aggressive war, the German people themselves would have been entitled to hang him.
Doenitz conviction on charge three – violation of the laws of war at sea – was an insult to our own submariners. Admiral Doenitz requested early in the trial that our own Admiral Nimitz be summoned as a witness in his defense to testify about how our subs operated in the Pacific. ….Admiral Nimitz (God bless him for the honest seafaring man that he is) finally submitted a sworn statement, answering questions put to him by Doenitz’s counsel and said that our submarines in the Pacific waged unrestricted warfare the same as the Germans did in the Atlantic.
Despite this, we convicted Admiral Doenitz on the charge of violating the laws of war at sea. …..The only crime he committed was that of almost beating us in a bloody but “legal†fight.â€
These are the words of Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, excerpted from his book, “Twenty Million Tons Under the Seaâ€, written in 1957. Then a Captain, Dan Gallery was the decorated commanding officer of the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal CVE-60 which fought against the U-boats in the Atlantic. Formerly he had been the Commanding Officer of the US Navy airbase on Reykavik where he had directed air operations against the U-boats. These are the opinions of an officer who spent his time during WW II fighting the U-boats and he knew the Atlantic warfare intimately. He has much more to say about the war in the Atlantic and you might find his book of interest if you have not already read it.
Don B
</HTML>
I understand your feelings but I doubt there are few, if any, participants in this forum who would defend the policies of National Socialism. Admiral Doenitz remains a controversial figure and there has been much discussion about him on this forum.
In order to present another viewpoint on the matter, I offer the following:
“The outstanding example of barefaced hypocrisy at Nuremberg was the trial of Admiral Doenitz. We tried him on three charges: (1) conspiring to wage aggressive war; (2) Waging aggressive war; and (3) Violation of the laws of war at sea. Even the loaded court at Nuremberg acquitted him of the first charge, but convicted him of the other two. How in the name of common sense a military officer can wage any kind of war except an aggressive one without being a traitor to his country, I’ll never know. I took an oath when I entered the U.S.Navy almost forty years ago, to defend the United States against all enemies – and there wasn’t anything said about doing it in a non-aggressive manner. ….If the Nuremberg evidence had shown that Doenitz waged a non-aggressive war, the German people themselves would have been entitled to hang him.
Doenitz conviction on charge three – violation of the laws of war at sea – was an insult to our own submariners. Admiral Doenitz requested early in the trial that our own Admiral Nimitz be summoned as a witness in his defense to testify about how our subs operated in the Pacific. ….Admiral Nimitz (God bless him for the honest seafaring man that he is) finally submitted a sworn statement, answering questions put to him by Doenitz’s counsel and said that our submarines in the Pacific waged unrestricted warfare the same as the Germans did in the Atlantic.
Despite this, we convicted Admiral Doenitz on the charge of violating the laws of war at sea. …..The only crime he committed was that of almost beating us in a bloody but “legal†fight.â€
These are the words of Admiral Daniel V. Gallery, excerpted from his book, “Twenty Million Tons Under the Seaâ€, written in 1957. Then a Captain, Dan Gallery was the decorated commanding officer of the escort carrier USS Guadalcanal CVE-60 which fought against the U-boats in the Atlantic. Formerly he had been the Commanding Officer of the US Navy airbase on Reykavik where he had directed air operations against the U-boats. These are the opinions of an officer who spent his time during WW II fighting the U-boats and he knew the Atlantic warfare intimately. He has much more to say about the war in the Atlantic and you might find his book of interest if you have not already read it.
Don B
</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Doenitz defenders
|
JD Thomas | 06/19/2001 02:43PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Rainer Bruns | 06/19/2001 02:48PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
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Tom Caramela | 06/19/2001 08:39PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Craig McLean | 06/19/2001 03:13PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Craig M | 06/19/2001 03:20PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
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Peter Johnson | 06/19/2001 05:09PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Craig M | 06/20/2001 03:27PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Jim | 06/19/2001 03:55PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Rainer Bruns | 06/19/2001 04:15PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
|
Don Baker | 06/19/2001 03:59PM |
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RE: Oooopps!
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Rainer Bruns | 06/19/2001 04:17PM |
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Steve | 06/19/2001 05:50PM |
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RE: Großadmiral Karl Dönitz
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RE: Doenitz defenders
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james stewart | 06/19/2001 07:53PM |
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RE: JD read my statement!
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Tom Caramela | 06/19/2001 08:40PM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
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Rainer Kolbicz | 06/20/2001 05:19AM |
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RE: Doenitz defenders
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Craig McLean | 06/20/2001 03:58PM |