A German admiral, Donitz was the architect of submarine strategy and replaced Erich Raeder as chief of the navy during World War II. Just before committing suicide on the eve of Germany's collapse, Adolf Hitler named Donitz head of state, and it was Donitz who authorized surrender to the Allies.

Donitz was born in Grunau and joined the navy on April 1, 1910, serving on U-boats during World War I. This experience persuaded the young officer that submarines would play an increasingly important role in naval strategy. Between the world wars, Donitz remained in service with the Reichsmarine, the diminutive navy Germany was permitted under the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Operating clandestinely, Donitz set about building a modern submarine force, even though submarines were strictly prohibited to Germany by the Versailles Treaty.

In 1935, Donitz was named chief of the Submarine Force and was instrumental in expanding the force, which came to dominate the German Navy. Promoted to rear admiral shortly after the start of World War II, Donitz held a simultaneous post as flag officer in charge of the fleet's submarines. With brilliance, the admiral molded a relatively unprepared U-boat fleet into a devastating weapon, leading a highly effective campaign against Allied shipping in the North Atlantic, a campaign that threatened to strangle Great Britain. Donitz's success encouraged him to claim greater and greater shares of German war funding, and he soon became highly unpopular with the other service chiefs and, in particular, with navy commander in chief Erich Raeder, an old-line sailor who favored surface vessels over submarine warfare. Success, however, spoke loudest, and Donitz gained funding as well as promotion to vice admiral in 1940 and admiral in 1942. His rise came at the expense of Raeder, whom Donitz replaced as commander in chief of the navy on January 30, 1943. Donitz never relinquished his direct, hands-on role as commander of the U-boat force, and it now constituted the bulk of the German fleet. . .

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