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Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; German: [ˈdøːnɪts] ⓘ; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government following Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies days later.
May 29, 2024 · Karl Dönitz (born September 16, 1891, Grünau-bei-Berlin, Germany—died December 24, 1980, Aumühle, West Germany) was a German naval officer and creator of Germany’s World War II U-boat fleet who for a few days succeeded Adolf Hitler as German head of state.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Learn about Karl Dönitz, the naval officer and Nazi who became Hitler's successor in 1945. Discover his role in the Battle of the Atlantic, his loyalty to Hitler, and his fate after the war.
- Malloryk
Learn about Dönitz, the German naval officer who created the U-boat fleet and became Hitler's successor in World War Two. Find out how he negotiated the surrender of Germany and was sentenced to prison at Nuremberg.
- Early career. Karl Dönitz entered the German Imperial Navy in 1910 at the age of nineteen. Commissioned as an officer in 1913, he requested a transfer to the submarine force in 1916, passing out of submarine school in 1917.
- The interwar years. Dönitz chose to remain in the Navy after Germany surrendered in 1918. Over the next seventeen years, he rose through the ranks. In 1935, two years after the Nazis rose to power, Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, the head of the German Navy, put Dönitz in charge of Germany’s submarine fleet.
- World War II. Britain declared war on Germany on 3rd September 1939. Within hours, the British ocean liner SS Athenia was sunk by the U-boat U-30. It was the opening salvo of the Battle of the Atlantic - the longest and most complex battle of the Second World War.
- The Battle of the Atlantic. From the beginning of the war, Britain organised its transatlantic merchant ships into convoys which were escorted by warships of the Royal Navy.
From 1939, Karl Dönitz (1891–1980) was Commander of Germany's U-Boat fleet. In 1943, Dönitz was appointed Commander in Chief of the German War Navy. In May 1945, after Hitler committed suicide, Dönitz was appointed Reich President.
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Learn about Dönitz, the German naval officer who created the U-boat fleet and became Hitler's successor in World War Two. Find out how he negotiated the surrender of Germany and was sentenced to prison at Nuremberg.
