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:
Ying
()
Date: November 29, 2000 04:30AM
<HTML>Wow, I was amazed by the amount of info here! Thank you all, my dear Kameraden!
It seems to me that Doenitz\' naval career during the postwar years (1919-1935) played a more important role than his deeds in WWI in his designation as the head of the Ubootwaffe.
MPC, the fact that Doenitz was a brilliant tactician and stratagist in the realm of U-boat warfare was not known before his designation, right? Such qualities need to be proved by his achievements after the designation. Anyway, your statement of \"being in the right place at the right time\" does have some truth in it.
Fin, thanks for the kudos! I guess there\'s always the \"opportunity cost\" to consider when we analyse something. we all tend to think that if things began in a different way, then the result would be reversed. However, whether it\'s true, we would never know. Personally I don\'t think Great Britain is a country that would be easily brought to her knees.
Antonio, thanks for the message, it\'s very logical and reasonable.
Michael, I think Rommel did appear to have a better credit than Doenitz regarding promotion (I\'m in no way belittling the competence of Admiral Doenitz). Rommel distinguished himself during WWI and was awarded the \"Pour le Merite\", making him one of the few junior officers ever received this award. He also commanded Adolf Hitler\'s Bodyguard for the duration of the Polish Campaign, during which he won Hitler\'s favor. It was Hitler, who, after the Polish Campaign, allowed Rommel to choose what he would like to command and Erwin Rommel asked for a Panzer Division, the 7th Division later became known as the \"Ghost/Phantom Division\" during the Battle of France.
Kpp, though I don\'t have the book at hand, I do remember that Doenitz himself wasn\'t very happy about this nomination. However, he did accepted it (I think he had other choices then), which meant giving up a new cruise on Emden to China , Japan, Borneo and Australia. Considering the fact that it was a long-desired trip for Doenitz to visit these oriental countries, I guess it\'s not only his obedience that led to his acception of the position, but also his complex with uboats, even though he may not realize it himself. It\'s true that the Admiral didn\'t have much experience in the Ubootwaffe, however, during his captivity in England, it is said that he thought hard everyday as to how to beat Great Britain at sea and the frame of wolfpack tactics was generated then. Thus he was somewhat attached to this special sea weapon. Oh yeah, MPC is right that I\'m also curious to know the incident aboard Emden when von Arnauld de la Periere was the commander. Please elaborate on it for us!
Best regards,
Ying
PS. MPC, don\'t push me so hard, at least you should wait till I completely digested all the info here. However, I can tell you that the new posting is on the way and it\'s something you\'re good at--about BP. :-) BTW, why there\'s no trace of your resume till now?
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It seems to me that Doenitz\' naval career during the postwar years (1919-1935) played a more important role than his deeds in WWI in his designation as the head of the Ubootwaffe.
MPC, the fact that Doenitz was a brilliant tactician and stratagist in the realm of U-boat warfare was not known before his designation, right? Such qualities need to be proved by his achievements after the designation. Anyway, your statement of \"being in the right place at the right time\" does have some truth in it.
Fin, thanks for the kudos! I guess there\'s always the \"opportunity cost\" to consider when we analyse something. we all tend to think that if things began in a different way, then the result would be reversed. However, whether it\'s true, we would never know. Personally I don\'t think Great Britain is a country that would be easily brought to her knees.
Antonio, thanks for the message, it\'s very logical and reasonable.
Michael, I think Rommel did appear to have a better credit than Doenitz regarding promotion (I\'m in no way belittling the competence of Admiral Doenitz). Rommel distinguished himself during WWI and was awarded the \"Pour le Merite\", making him one of the few junior officers ever received this award. He also commanded Adolf Hitler\'s Bodyguard for the duration of the Polish Campaign, during which he won Hitler\'s favor. It was Hitler, who, after the Polish Campaign, allowed Rommel to choose what he would like to command and Erwin Rommel asked for a Panzer Division, the 7th Division later became known as the \"Ghost/Phantom Division\" during the Battle of France.
Kpp, though I don\'t have the book at hand, I do remember that Doenitz himself wasn\'t very happy about this nomination. However, he did accepted it (I think he had other choices then), which meant giving up a new cruise on Emden to China , Japan, Borneo and Australia. Considering the fact that it was a long-desired trip for Doenitz to visit these oriental countries, I guess it\'s not only his obedience that led to his acception of the position, but also his complex with uboats, even though he may not realize it himself. It\'s true that the Admiral didn\'t have much experience in the Ubootwaffe, however, during his captivity in England, it is said that he thought hard everyday as to how to beat Great Britain at sea and the frame of wolfpack tactics was generated then. Thus he was somewhat attached to this special sea weapon. Oh yeah, MPC is right that I\'m also curious to know the incident aboard Emden when von Arnauld de la Periere was the commander. Please elaborate on it for us!
Best regards,
Ying
PS. MPC, don\'t push me so hard, at least you should wait till I completely digested all the info here. However, I can tell you that the new posting is on the way and it\'s something you\'re good at--about BP. :-) BTW, why there\'s no trace of your resume till now?
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