Word: doenitz
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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When his U-boats sailed out to war, Doenitz was a Vice Admiral commanding the most effective underwater force in any navy. And he knew how to apply the force. He introduced wolf-pack tactics (Rudeltaktik) for attacking convoys. He varied this technique with individual sorties, sometimes into enemy ports or rivers...
...Doenitz knew the British well, and he had profound contempt for them at the war's start. In the last war, after service on a cruiser in the Mediterranean, he was transferred to U-boats, earned his own command. His UB-68 was sunk by the British off Malta in 1918. Rescued, Doenitz was taken to England as a prisoner of war. There he so successfully feigned mental illness that his captors kept him comfortably in a sanatorium...
...Doenitz is still vigorous (despite gastric ulcers). By radio, his U-boat commanders can always get in touch with him. He is frequently on the move between his headquarters, the fleet's ports and production centers, but he knows exactly what actions are taking place. When a U-boat comes into port, Doenitz is frequently there to greet the commander. He carefully studies the logs of the cruises, notes every detail of combat, and applies their lessons in future orders...
...Weapon's Men. Four years ago Doenitz wrote of his crews: "With men who have been tried in long U-boat service you can get the devil himself out of hell. They are soldiers and sailors of the best kind...
Nazi U-boat crews still have the highest morale of any branch of the German armed forces. They are tough, hardened sailors, inured now to the discomforts and nerve-racking moments of life in the submarines. Doenitz labored to level the usual barriers between officers and men, and there have been no signs of the bitterness which contributed to a revolt of German crews in World...