• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Naval Historical Society of Australia

Preserving Australia's Naval History

  • Events
  • Account
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • Show Search
  • 0 items
Hide Search
Menu
  • Home
  • Research
    • Where to start
      • Research – We can help!
      • Self help
      • Naval Service Records
      • Library
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Resources
      • Articles
      • Videos
      • On This Day
      • Podcasts
      • Australian Military Ship Losses
      • RAN events on a  Google Earth Map
      • RAN Vessels – Where are they now?
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Other
      • Newsletters: Call The Hands
      • Occasional Papers and Historical Booklets
      • Books
      • HMAS Shropshire
      • Book reviews
    • Close
  • Naval Heritage Sites
    • World Heritage Listings
      • Cockatoo Island
    • National Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Sydney II and the HSK Kormoran Shipwreck Sites
      • HMVS Cerberus
    • Commonwealth Heritage Listings
      • Garden Island NSW
      • HMAS Watson
      • HMAS Penguin
      • Spectacle Island Explosives Complex NSW
      • Chowder Bay Naval Facilities
      • Beecroft Peninsula NSW
      • Admiralty House, Garden and Fortifications
      • HMAS Cerberus
      • Naval Offices QLD
      • Garden Island WA
      • Royal Australian Naval College ACT
      • Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station ACT
    • NSW Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Rushcutter
    • Close
  • Naval Art
  • Tours & Cruises
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, East
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, West
    • Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack
    • Tour Bookings
    • Close
  • About us
    • About Us
      • What we do
      • Our People
      • Office Bearers
      • Become a volunteer
      • Our Goals and Strategy
    • Organisation
      • Victoria Chapter
      • WA Chapter
      • ACT Chapter
    • Close
  • Membership
  • Shop
  • Become a volunteer
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Article topics / Publications / Naval Historical Review / Leadership: Admiral Karl Doenitz

Leadership: Admiral Karl Doenitz

Hume, A.R.N., Midshipman, RAN · Mar 3, 2006 · Print This Page

Author
Hume, A.R.N., Midshipman, RAN
Subjects
Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations, History - WW2
Tags
U Boats
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
March 2006 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

When the United States entered the war in December 1941, Doenitz predicted they would be lacking in modern anti-submarine warfare platforms, training and effective doctrine to combat the U-boat threat. Based on this assessment, Doenitz launched Operation Paukenschlag (Drum Beat), an offensive against Allied shipping on the eastern seaboard of the United States. Consisting of five U-boats, and supported by newly developed long-range supply submarines, they were able to sink over 750,000 tons of Allied shipping in less than two months.

The foresight and audacity shown by Doenitz in conducting this offensive showed him to be leader capable not only of directing forces in a specialised field of operations, but who also had a sound grasp of turning the strategic shortcomings of an adversary into a tactical advantage.

His relationship with his subordinates and seniors?

Doenitz was an advocate of leadership through personal interaction and took a ‘hands-on’ approach to many aspects of his command. Due to the pre-war limitations placed on  German  submarine  production numbers, Doenitz concentrated on the training and tactics of his crews to maximize the effect of his few available units. He placed an emphasis on training his crews in warlike conditions whenever possible. Officers and sailors alike took pride in their heightened level of capability that the intensity and relevance of this instruction produced. Doenitz’s training, dedication and professionalism created a strong feeling of confidence in his abilities from his subordinates and superiors alike. This confidence allowed him the free rein he required to employ to maximum effect the U-boats under his command.

His intellectual qualities

Although Doenitz was an unrepentant believer in Nazi ideology, he did not allow this to bias his tactical and strategic analysis. He applied sound logic and lateral thinking when evaluating Allied strengths and vulnerabilities, and in finding ways in which to exploit them. He had the rare ability to convert military theory gained from recent experience into viable tactics for use by his U-boats.

Doenitz and the course of history

The offensive operations of Doenitz’s U-boats were arguably the largest threat to an Allied victory in Europe. His direction of the U-boat war was nearly successful in isolating Great Britain. If not for the slow but steady advances in Allied ASW technology, this blockade could quite possibly have stymied the Allies’ ability to launch a western offensive for several years and perhaps not at all.

After U-boats were forced from the Atlantic, Doenitz still had a role to pay in Germany’s future. In 1945, he was made Führer of the Reich on the authority of Hitler’s last will and testament. During his twenty days in power, Doenitz focused his efforts on ensuring the remnants of the German forces to the Allies, rightly fearing reprisals from Soviet troops. Although Doenitz later defended the Nazi ideology, he was not a fanatic, and the support shown to his U-boat crews was applied to a nearly-defeated German people. However, the Allied powers refused to recognise any new government and on 23 May 1945, Doenitz and his administration were captured and arrested by British forces. He was later convicted of War Crimes at the Nuremburg Trials for having issued controversial orders regarding the rescuing of survivors at sea, and served ten years in Spandau Prison.

Conclusion:

The focus of a commander in the modern battlefield is often based on managing subject matter experts to achieve specific tasks in support of a wider strategic aim. Doenitz monitored and directed his forces at all levels, which is seemingly an uncommon trait in modern commanders. This allowed his forces to achieve a decisiveness rarely seen in the maritime environment. He was given complete discretion in nearly all facets of U-boat operations and was an advocate of fighting ‘smarter, not harder’. His ability to identify and exploit the weaknesses of his enemies came close to altering the outcome of the entire Second World War. The courage, ingenuity and fighting spirit he imbued in the German U-boat arm showed on their impact on the European theatre, and thus the wartime actions of Doenitz relevant model of leadership today

The most valuable lesson we can derive from Doenitz’s wartime leadership is aptly summarised in his memoirs: ‘We shall derive knowledge for the future only if we recognise our past failures and admit them’. Doenitz died of natural causes on 24 December 1980, a revered and respected naval officer the world over.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

  •  King, Commander J.E. 1995, Admiral Karl Doenitz: A legacy of leadership, Naval War College, United States Navy.
  • Doenitz, Admiral K. 1958, Ten Years and Twenty Days, Weidenfield & Nicholson Ltd.
  • http:www.answers.com/karl-d-nitz.htm, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://uboat.net/men/doenitz.htm, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://www.joric.com/Conspiracy/Doenitz.htm, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1945/450508b.html, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://www.stormingmedia.us/24/2487/A248792.html, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/GERdoenitz.htm, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://ww.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Doenitz.html, accessed on 27 Aug 05
  • http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/Nuremburg/meetthedefendants.html, accessed on 28 Aug 05
  • http://www.mtsu.edu/~baustin/trials3.html, accessed on 28 Aug 05
  • http://www.adolfhitler.ws/lib/nsdap/Doenitz.hmil, accessed on 28 Aug 05
Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations, History - WW2 U Boats

Primary Sidebar

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Latest Podcasts

  • The Fall of Singapore
  • HMAS Armidale
  • Napoleon, the Royal Navy and Me
  • The Case of the Unknown Sailor
  • Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack

Links to other podcasts

Australian Naval History Podcasts
This podcast series examines Australia’s Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere.
Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre

Life on the Line Podcasts
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories.
These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher.

Video Links

  • Australian War Memorial YouTube channel
  • Royal Australian Navy YouTube Channel
  • Research – We can help!
  • Naval Heritage Sites
  • Explore Naval Art
  • Dockyard Heritage Tour
  • About us
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Members Area
  • Privacy Policy

Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Copyright © 2025