General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
RE: Why Doenitz?
Posted by:
Antonio Veiga
()
Date: November 28, 2000 10:56PM
<HTML>Hi Jing
Mr. Mallmann Shovel in his book \"U-BOATS under the swastika\", has an interesting answer to your question, which he resumes like that:
\"Dönitz has often been described as a succesfull U-Boat commander of WWI, which is most misleading because he had been in the Navy for 25 years since
1910, and had only spent a little more than the last two years of the Great War
with submarines.He was not a submariner at heart and had no longing to leave his prestigious post in \"Emden\", especially as such a move could take him out of the running position of cruiser squadron commander.He had never even undergone
a fully comprehensive trainig programme for submarines.Instead Dönitz had gone
through a crash course before being pitched into action in U39 as apprentice to the ace Walter Forstmann, the second most successfull U-Boat commander of WWI.
Yet, despite this limited experience, Dönitz has two terrific advantages over those with better U-Boat qualifications: He had been a succesfull commander during the
difficult times of the 1920s and had commisioned two brand new units:firstly the 4th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and secondly \"Emden\", which had been brought back into service with a new crew after a refit.The move from \"Emden\" ,meaning promotion to Kapitän zur See, but returning to the type of post he had held seven years earlier as Korvettenkapìtän, has been interpreted as a definite move to clip his wings, which is untrue, for Raeder did not have any hard feelings towards Dönitz.He appreciated the talents of his gifted officer and felt certain Dönitz would
fit into this most difficult position, where a tactical commander with great organisational skills and a mature outlook was far more important than a submarine expert.
Dönitz was sent to Weddingen Flotilla because nobody else was available; he was left free to develop his own ideas because there was not naval policy for the employment of submarines and not because ha was an expert in this field.In any case, Dönitz appointment had only been a stopgap measure until a new commander could be found.This was due to have been Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, four years younger and with a similarly mature commanding character, but without submarine experience.Von Friedburg underwent a period of training in a U-Boat and then the war started before the switch in leadership could be made.Tha naval command thought it would be better to keep Dönitz in the position of Flag Officer for Submarines, while von Friedburg was given the opportunity of running the far more complicated Organisation Department, which dealt with everything from commisioning new boats, to training the crews, checking their weapons and getting them to the front.\"
Best Regards</HTML>
Mr. Mallmann Shovel in his book \"U-BOATS under the swastika\", has an interesting answer to your question, which he resumes like that:
\"Dönitz has often been described as a succesfull U-Boat commander of WWI, which is most misleading because he had been in the Navy for 25 years since
1910, and had only spent a little more than the last two years of the Great War
with submarines.He was not a submariner at heart and had no longing to leave his prestigious post in \"Emden\", especially as such a move could take him out of the running position of cruiser squadron commander.He had never even undergone
a fully comprehensive trainig programme for submarines.Instead Dönitz had gone
through a crash course before being pitched into action in U39 as apprentice to the ace Walter Forstmann, the second most successfull U-Boat commander of WWI.
Yet, despite this limited experience, Dönitz has two terrific advantages over those with better U-Boat qualifications: He had been a succesfull commander during the
difficult times of the 1920s and had commisioned two brand new units:firstly the 4th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and secondly \"Emden\", which had been brought back into service with a new crew after a refit.The move from \"Emden\" ,meaning promotion to Kapitän zur See, but returning to the type of post he had held seven years earlier as Korvettenkapìtän, has been interpreted as a definite move to clip his wings, which is untrue, for Raeder did not have any hard feelings towards Dönitz.He appreciated the talents of his gifted officer and felt certain Dönitz would
fit into this most difficult position, where a tactical commander with great organisational skills and a mature outlook was far more important than a submarine expert.
Dönitz was sent to Weddingen Flotilla because nobody else was available; he was left free to develop his own ideas because there was not naval policy for the employment of submarines and not because ha was an expert in this field.In any case, Dönitz appointment had only been a stopgap measure until a new commander could be found.This was due to have been Hans-Georg von Friedeburg, four years younger and with a similarly mature commanding character, but without submarine experience.Von Friedburg underwent a period of training in a U-Boat and then the war started before the switch in leadership could be made.Tha naval command thought it would be better to keep Dönitz in the position of Flag Officer for Submarines, while von Friedburg was given the opportunity of running the far more complicated Organisation Department, which dealt with everything from commisioning new boats, to training the crews, checking their weapons and getting them to the front.\"
Best Regards</HTML>
