One of the first notes about underwater aces in my journal was who, in addition to his success in destroying the allied tonnage, is also known for his marriage to Karl Doenitz's daughter Ursula.
This photo shows the Hessler family - Günther Hessler, his wife Ursula (née Doenitz). At the very bottom of the picture, the photographer captured in the lens only part of the head of a boy who is very similar to Karl Doenitz, and therefore can be presumably the son of Gunther and Ursula, and also, of course, the grandson of the future Grand Admiral and the last Reich President of Germany. I believe that many who saw this photo asked this question. Today you can get an answer to it, as well as to other questions related to the family of Karl Doenitz.
Karl Doenitz was born on September 16, 1891. On May 27, 1916, a young 24-year-old naval officer, Karl Doenitz, married a nurse, Ingeborg Weber. The history of their acquaintance is quite interesting and we can say that the reason for it was the First World War.
Ingeborg Weber was born on February 10, 1893 in the family of Erich Paul Weber, an officer of the Imperial German Army, the future general of infantry. Weber, better known by his nickname "Pasha", left a definite mark on the history of the First World War. In 1914, Weber, with the rank of colonel in the German military mission, was sent to Istanbul as a "military engineer and specialist in defensive structures". On April 18, 1915, he received the rank of major general and the nickname "Pasha". He took part in the hostilities on the Gallipoli peninsula. He did not find a common language with General Liman von Sanders and was transferred to Germany. In 1916, the commander of the 50th Infantry Division , who took part in the battle of Verdun. Later the commander of the 9th Infantry Division, which he commanded until the end of the war. After the surrender of Germany, he continued to serve in the Reichswehr. He retired on June 15, 1921 with the rank of General of Infantry. He died in 1933. 
General Erich Paul Weber, father-in-law of Karl Dönitz
Leaving for Turkey, Weber took his family with him. So Ingeborga ended up in Istanbul, where she worked as a nurse in a hospital. It was there that she met a young officer from the Breslau cruiser, Karl Doenitz, who soon proposed to her. After obtaining marriage permission from the Naval Command and proving by Doenitz that his income as a naval officer was sufficient to support the family, Ingeborg and Karl were married in Istanbul by the priest of the embassy, and in the future by the priest of the Kaisermarine Count von Lüttichau.
Officers of the cruiser "Breslau" after being awarded the Iron Crosses. Karl Doenitz in the foreground sits cross-legged in Turkish (left). This picture also shows another famous person in the German navy. Third from the right in the row of standing officers is the artillery officer of the cruiser Lieutenant Commander Karls, the future Admiral General of the Kriegsmarine.
Part of a group photo on the battlecruiser Goeben. Karl Doenitz holding a dog on his lap.
The first daughter of the Doenitz couple was born Ursula (unfortunately, the date of her birth could not be established. Approximate year born 1917-1920). Then, two years apart, Doenitz had two sons: Klaus (May 14, 1920) and Peter (March 20, 1922). It can be assumed that Karl and Ingeborg were happily married, although Ingeborg had to taste all the "charm" of the wife of a military sailor, especially during the war years, since her husband had practically no time for a family. First, he was captured by the British, then, returning to the fleet again, went to circumnavigations, disappeared at sea for a long time on exercises with his flotilla of submarines. And after that, the war began, ending with the capitulation of the Reich and Doenitz's 10-year sentence in Spandau by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine. 1944
Karl Doenitz. Nuremberg Tribunal 1946
End of imprisonment in Spandau. Karl and Inge Doenitz. 1956
Klaus and Peter, following in their father's footsteps, chose the career of Kriegsmarine officers and both died during the war. Lieutenant zur see Peter Dönitz died on U 954 in the Atlantic.
Oberleutnant zur see Klaus Doenitz was killed on board the German TKA S 141 in the English Channel. His death was ridiculous. According to the rules in force in the German Navy, if a senior officer had several sons and lost one of them at the front, then his other sons could then leave the service. Klaus, after the death of Peter, left the fleet and entered the University of Tübingen on Faculty of Medicine. But he never ceased to keep in touch with his former colleagues and on the day of his 24th birthday he met with his officers in Cherbourg. For fun, he decided to go on a boat S 141 as a guest on a military campaign. The boat was discovered and sunk by Allied ships. The frigate "Steiner" and the EM "La Combatant" managed to lift only 6 German sailors out of the water. The body of Klaus Doenitz was given away by the sea only after some time, throwing it on the coast of France. 
Eldest son Klaus
Youngest son Peter
Ursula married in 1937 Kriegsmarine officer Günther Hessler, later commander of the submarine U107 and future submarine ace. In marriage, they had three children: the eldest son Peter (1939), daughter Ute (1942) and Klaus (1945). 
Family of Karl Doenitz.
Standing (from left to right): Klaus (youngest grandson, 11 years old), Peter (eldest grandson, 17 years old), Ingeborg's wife, daughter Ursula, son-in-law Günther Hessler. Sit Karl Doenitz and Ute (granddaughter, 14 years old). 1956
It is likely that Ingeborg Dönitz in prewar years and during the war years she continued to work as a physician, since after the war and while Karl Dönitz was in Spandau, from 1947 to 1956 she worked in a hospital in Hamburg, first as a nurse, and then as a registrar for Professor of Medicine Henry Künstmann. With the departure of Karl Dönitz from Spandau in October 1956, Ingeborg left medicine and spent the rest of her years with her husband and grandchildren. Ingeborga Doenitz died on May 2, 1962 at the age of 69. Karl Doenitz outlived his wife by 18 years and died at the age of 89 on December 24, 1980. 
Karl and Inge Doenitz.
Doenitz's son-in-law Günter Hessler opened his own business after the war and later became the owner of the factory. However, at the age of 58, Hessler died on April 4, 1968. It was a difficult time for Karl Dönitz, when he first became a widower and then widowed his daughter as well. There is no mention of the further fate of Ursula Doenitz, including her death. It is possible that she is still alive, although she may now be in her 90s.
Returning to the question of the picture of the Hessler family, there is no doubt that the baby in the photo is none other than the eldest grandson of Karl Doenitz Peter.
As a small addition, I’ll add that the reason for the death of Karl Dönitz Friedrich’s elder brother became known (I wrote about him). Friedrich died during one of the Allied bombings of Berlin.
As usual, Vladimir Nagirnyak pored over the analysis.
Dönitz Karl. Admiral Dönitz created the German submarine fleet and tactics that allowed German submariners to jeopardize the transportation of England and the United States.
Dönitz was born on September 16, 1891 in Grünau, near Berlin. The youngest son of the optical engineer Emil Dönitz from the firm of Carl Zeiss in Jena, he lost his mother early. After the gymnasium and the real school, the young man in 1910 entered the Imperial naval school in Kiel. In 1912, he was transferred to the naval school in Mürvik, then, to complete his studies, he was appointed watch officer on the Breslau light cruiser, and in the fall of 1913 he was promoted to lieutenant. During the Balkan crisis, Breslau participated in the blockade of Montenegro. By the beginning of World War II, the cruiser was in the Mediterranean Sea, with the detachment of Souchon broke into the Black Sea and became part of the Turkish fleet. When in July 1915 the Breslau was blown up by a Russian mine near the Bosphorus and stood up for repairs, the lieutenant, as a pilot and air observer, took part in the fighting near Gallipoli. In February 1916, he was promoted to lieutenant, and in the summer he was sent to retrain as a submariner.
From October 1, 1916 to January 1917, Dönitz was trained in Germany. Then he was sent to the Adriatic Sea. On the submarine U-39 of Lieutenant Commander Walter Folstmann, Dönitz proved himself well and was seconded to Kiel for the courses of submarine commanders. In January 1918 he was placed in command of the UC-25 in the Mediterranean, a minelayer that could also be used in the torpedo version. In the first campaign, the young commander sank a steamer, then penetrated the roadstead of the port of Augusta (Sicily) and torpedoed an Italian collier. On the way back, the boat ran aground, and the Austrians had to ask for help. Nevertheless, the Kaiser awarded the sailor the Order of the House of Hohenzollern. After repairs in July, Dönitz laid mines off the island of Corfur and attacked 4 ships with torpedoes, one of which washed ashore and the others probably sank. The sailor could not watch their death: he had to leave the escort with which the British escorted the convoys.
As a reward for his successful cruising, Dönitz was placed in command of the more modern UB-68. On October 4, 1918, the commander attacked a British convoy, sank the Upek transport, but during the dive, due to the inexperience of the crew, the boat fell to a depth above the limit. Dönitz ordered the tanks to be blown through, the rudders to be placed in a horizontal position and to move. The boat was washed up on the surface in the center of the convoy, where it was attacked by British destroyers. It was not possible to dive (compressed air ran out). The chief lieutenant ordered the crew to leave the boat and flood it. Most of the crew were picked up by English ships.
In order to quickly return to his homeland, Dönitz, who ended up in the officers' camp at Riedmyer near Sheffield, feigned madness so naturally that the camp authorities believed him and repatriated him. In July 1919, Oberleutnant returned to Germany and served at the naval base in Kiel. Dönitz turned out to be one of the few former officers who remained in the small German fleet, which existed within the limits allowed by the Treaty of Versailles. Since the treaty forbade Germany to have submarines, in 1920 Dönitz became commander of the destroyer T-157 in Swinemünde (Pomerania), in 1921 he was promoted to lieutenant commander. Two years later, he returned to Kiel as an expert mine-torpedo reconnaissance inspection, participated in the development of a new depth bomb.
In the autumn of 1924, after completing courses for staff officers, Dönitz was sent to Berlin. He participated in the development of a new naval charter and regulations on military crimes. In 1928, Dönitz continued to serve as navigator of the Nymphe cruiser in the Baltic, and in November he was appointed commander of the 4th destroyer semi-flotilla. Having 4 destroyers, the sailor on maneuvers practiced tactics similar to the subsequent actions of submarines. At the autumn maneuvers, he distinguished himself by “defeating” the convoy of a mock enemy, and attracted the attention of Rear Admiral Walter Gladis, who led the secret preparations for submarine warfare. From the end of 1930 to 1934, Dönitz served in Wilhelmshaven, dealing with internal security. At the beginning of 1933, a sailor sent to the British and Dutch colonies visited Malta, the Red Sea, India, Ceylon, Batavia, Java, and Singapore. In October he was promoted to frigate captain. In 1934, Dönitz improved his English in England, and upon his return he became commander of the light cruiser Emden.
After Hitler came to power with his plan for the immediate start of naval expansion, Dönitz returned to the submarine fleet. On February 1, 1935, the Fuhrer ordered the construction of submarines to begin, after 6 weeks he refused to comply with the articles of the Versailles Treaty. On June 8, Dönitz was appointed "Fuhrer of submarines." He led the 1st Submarine Flotilla, which by September consisted of 11 small submarines. On October 1, the sailor was promoted to “captains of the zur see”.
Based on his own experience, as well as on foreign works on the strategy of the submarine fleet, Dönitz essentially created the German theory of submarine warfare. He himself supervised the design of submarines, took care of the improvement of engines, wrote manuals for the training of submariners. He had two main military concepts. Firstly, Dönitz convinced his superiors that the main goal of submarines should not be military, but merchant ships in order to disrupt the supply of the enemy. The second concept, which played a particularly significant role in the conduct of submarine warfare, was that submariners should operate in stable groups, which Dönitz called "wolf packs". At his insistence, the construction of submarines of the 7th series, suitable for operations in the ocean, began. Dönitz's activities were supported by the commander of the fleet, Ralf Karls. However, Admiral Raeder, an advocate of cruiser warfare against Great Britain, wrote negative resolutions on Dönitz's notes stating that U-boats could win the war.
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Dönitz set a goal of building a fleet of 300 boats, but this work was slowed down by the limited resources of steel, which were also claimed by the regular navy and army. By the start of World War II, Dönitz had only 56 boats, of which less than half could fighting V Atlantic Ocean. Nevertheless, by the end of September, the loss of allied tonnage reached 175 thousand tons, and U-47 Prina, according to Dönitz's plan, sank the battleship Royal Oak on the night of October 14 in the harbor of Scapa Flow. Grand Admiral Raeder, who met the boat, promoted Dönitz to rear admiral right on the pier.
Shipyards produced only 2 submarines per month. There was nothing to replace the submarines that returned from the campaign. In October, the sunk tonnage amounted to 125,000 tons, in November - 80,000 tons, and in December - 125,000 tons. The total losses of Allied ships until March 31, 1940 amounted to 343,610 tons, which Great Britain, which had a tonnage of 24 million tons and launched 200,000 tons of ships monthly, could withstand. The use of submarines in the Norwegian operation and problems with torpedo fuses reduced the tonnage sunk in April to 80,000 tons. Only when, after the fall of France, Dönitz submarines began to leave French ports, the time of their combat patrols increased and the destroyed tonnage increased sharply, amounting to 343 ships with a displacement of 1 million 754 thousand 501 tons in 7 months, which had already begun to threaten the security of Great Britain, which did not managed to make up for the loss.
In August 1940, Vice Admiral Dönitz moved his headquarters to Paris, from where it was more convenient to lead submariners. He led a modest, measured life, took care of the life of sailors, met them after campaigns, gave them the opportunity to relax and relieve nervous tension, for which he was loved and called “Papa Karl” or “Lion”.
Only by the end of 1940 did the number of monthly submarines produced increase from 2 to 6. As of September 1, 1941, there were still only 57 submarines, counting them unusable. The British, on the other hand, organized the protection of convoys, began to use long-range anti-submarine aircraft, and the losses of German submariners began to grow.
Dönitz believed that the war could be won by sinking ships with more tonnage than the enemy could build. He stubbornly resisted Hitler's proposal to transfer part of the submarines to the Mediterranean Sea, because he knew that they could not return due to strong westerly currents in the Strait of Gibraltar. When, nevertheless, 10 submarines had to be sent to the Mediterranean Sea, this worsened the possibility of conducting operations in the Atlantic. Nevertheless, submariners and other military forces sank more ships than the Canadian and British shipyards built.
Hitler's declaration of war on the United States after Pearl Harbor sharply worsened Germany's situation, because the German fleet was not able to cope with the power of American industry. Nevertheless, Dönitz did everything possible to strengthen the resistance. The scope of the German submarine fleet expanded. The Americans did not think over the system of protection of their shipping. Already on January 15, 1942, Dönitz ordered the destruction of American ships off the coast of America; by May 10, 303 ships (2,015,252 tons) had been sunk. But in July, the Americans began to form convoys. The dispatch of part of the boats to the coast of Norway in early 1943 led to the fact that only 10-12 submarines were operating off the American coast at the same time. Dönitz felt powerless, and Hitler, as a consolation, promoted him to admiral in March 1942. When Raeder left the service, on January 30, 1943, Hitler appointed Dönitz commander-in-chief of the Kriegsmarine with the rank of Grand Admiral. Moreover, the sailor continued to be responsible for the development of the German submarine fleet at a new stage of the war. Now the advantage at sea and on land has passed to the allies. Submarines began to be detected using radar, the Allies learned to open German ciphers and determine the location of the “wolf packs”.
Dönitz moved to Berlin. He dissuaded Hitler from destroying the surface fleet and tried to use the ships to impede at least part of the ships of the English fleet. But still, he continued to lead the actions of the submariners, who were now commanded by Admiral Eberhard Goth. In March 1943, "wolf packs" sank 120 ships (627,300 tons), losing 11 boats, and Hitler awarded Grand Admiral the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross. But the losses of submariners grew due to the actions of the naval and base aviation of the American and British fleets on the boats that went to sea and returned. In May, German submariners sank 56 ships, but they themselves lost 41 submarines.
IN last years war, Dönitz tried to build as many submarines as possible and use them in areas where operations were less dangerous, but led to good luck(Caribbean, Azores). He hurried the development of scientific research, tried to oppose the efforts of the allies with snorkels that allowed submarines to charge batteries under water. The improvement of engines and torpedo systems continued. But the boats of the 21st series, capable, in the opinion of the commander-in-chief, of achieving victory, began to enter service too late. German submariners, who almost won the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942, could no longer effectively limit the flow of cargo across the ocean in the next. They began to sink fewer merchant ships than they lost boats. The attempt to attack the allied forces, which were landing in Normandy, ended in failure and heavy losses. Further attempts to massively use submarines could no longer bring success. Of the 820 boats that participated in the "Battle of the Atlantic" since 1939, 781 were lost, of the 39 thousand submariners - 32, mainly at the end of the war.
Despite the defeat of the German troops, Dönitz remained a supporter of Hitler, justified all his decisions and at times made propaganda statements in the spirit of Goebbels. He attended last day Hitler's birth. Apparently, because the Fuhrer, before his death, appointed Dönitz as his successor as Chancellor. On May 2, Grand Admiral settled in cadet corps in Mürwik near Flensburg, he tried to quickly end the war with the West and take out as many Germans as possible by sea from the zone of Soviet influence. On May 23, 1945, he was arrested. On an IQ test, his IQ was 138, approaching that of a genius.
As Hitler's successor, Dönitz was put on trial. Allied experts recognized that the American navy had engaged in all-out submarine warfare from the very beginning and that it was not a crime to sink neutral ships in a declared danger zone. The judge pleaded not guilty to Dönitz on all counts. The grand admiral himself referred to the fact that he acted on orders. In the end, he received 10 years in prison - the most lenient sentence handed down at Nuremberg. He served his term in Spandau. After his release on October 1, 1956, Dönitz secured an Admiralty pension and lived comfortably with his wife. After the death of his wife on May 2, 1962, he lived alone in Aumül. The sailor devoted almost all his time to writing, writing the books “10 Years and 20 Days” (1958), “My Exciting Life” (1968), “German Naval Strategy in World War II” (1968). He died on December 24, 1980 in Aumül and was buried on January 6, 1981. The burial was attended by veterans - comrades in arms.
Who, in addition to his success in destroying the allied tonnage, is also known for his marriage to the daughter of Karl Doenitz Ursula.
This photo shows the Hessler family - Günther Hessler, his wife Ingeborg (née Dönitz). At the very bottom of the picture, the photographer captured in the lens only part of the head of a boy who is very similar to Karl Doenitz, and therefore can be presumably the son of Gunther and Ursula, and also, of course, the grandson of the future Grand Admiral and the last Reich President of Germany. I believe that many who saw this photo asked this question. Today you can get an answer to it, as well as to other questions related to the family of Karl Doenitz.
Karl Doenitz was born on September 16, 1891. On May 27, 1916, a young 24-year-old naval officer, Karl Doenitz, married a nurse, Ingeborg Weber. The history of their acquaintance is quite interesting and we can say that the First World War served as the reason for it.
Ingeborg Weber was born on February 10, 1893 in the family of Erich Paul Weber, an officer of the Imperial German Army, the future general of infantry. Weber, better known by his nickname "Pasha", left a definite mark on the history of the First World War. In 1914, Weber, with the rank of colonel in the German military mission, was sent to Istanbul as a "military engineer and specialist in defensive structures." April 18, 1915 he received the rank of Major General and the nickname "Pasha". He took part in the fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula. He did not find a common language with General Liman von Sanders and was transferred to Germany. In 1916, the commander of the 50th Infantry Division, which took part in the battle of Verdun. Later commander of the 9th Infantry Division, which he commanded until the end of the war. After the surrender of Germany, he continued to serve in the Reichswehr. He retired on June 15, 1921 with the rank of General of the Infantry. He died in 1933.
General Erich Paul Weber, father-in-law of Karl Dönitz
Leaving for Turkey, Weber took his family with him. So Ingeborga ended up in Istanbul, where she worked as a nurse in a hospital. It was there that she met a young officer from the Breslau cruiser, Karl Doenitz, who soon proposed to her. After obtaining marriage permission from the Naval Command and proving by Doenitz that his income as a naval officer was sufficient to support the family, Ingeborg and Karl were married in Istanbul by the priest of the embassy, and in the future by the priest of the Kaisermarine Count von Lüttichau.
Officers of the cruiser "Breslau" after being awarded the Iron Crosses. Karl Doenitz in the foreground sits cross-legged in Turkish (left). This image also features another well-known figure in the German navy. Third from the right in the row of standing officers is the artillery officer of the cruiser Lieutenant Commander Karls, the future Admiral General of the Kriegsmarine.
Part of a group photo on the battlecruiser Goeben. Karl Doenitz holding a dog on his lap.
The first in the family couple Doenitz was the daughter Ursula (unfortunately, the date of her birth could not be established. The approximate year of birth is 1917-1920). Then, two years apart, Doenitz had two sons: Klaus (May 14, 1920) and Peter (March 20, 1922). It can be assumed that Karl and Ingeborg were happily married, although Ingeborg had to taste all the "charm" of the wife of a military sailor, especially during the war years, since her husband had practically no time for a family. First, he was captured by the British, then returned to the fleet again, went on round-the-world voyages, disappeared at sea for a long time on exercises with his submarine flotilla. And after that, the war began, ending with the capitulation of the Reich and Doenitz's 10-year sentence in Spandau by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
Grand Admiral of the Kriegsmarine. 1944
Karl Doenitz. Nuremberg Tribunal 1946
End of imprisonment in Spandau. Karl and Inge Doenitz. 1956
Klaus and Peter, following in their father's footsteps, chose the career of Kriegsmarine officers and both died during the war. Lieutenant zur see Peter Dönitz died on U 954 in the Atlantic.
Oberleutnant zur see Klaus Doenitz was killed on board the German TKA S 141 in the English Channel. His death was ridiculous. According to the rules in force in the German Navy, if a senior officer had several sons and lost one of them at the front, then his other sons could then leave the service. Klaus, after the death of Peter, left the fleet and entered the University of Tübingen at the Faculty of Medicine. But he never ceased to keep in touch with his former colleagues and on the day of his 24th birthday he met with his officers in Cherbourg. For fun, he decided to go on a boat S 141 as a guest on a military campaign. The boat was discovered and sunk by Allied ships. The frigate "Steiner" and the EM "La Combatant" managed to lift only 6 German sailors out of the water. The body of Klaus Doenitz was given away by the sea only after some time, throwing it on the coast of France.
Eldest son Klaus
Youngest son Peter
Ursula married in 1937 Kriegsmarine officer Günther Hessler, later commander of the submarine U107 and future submarine ace. In marriage, they had three children: the eldest son Peter (1939), daughter Ute (1942) and Klaus (1945).
Family of Karl Doenitz.
Standing (from left to right): Klaus (youngest grandson, 11 years old), Peter (eldest grandson, 17 years old), Ingeborg's wife, daughter Ursula, son-in-law Günther Hessler. Sit Karl Doenitz and Ute (granddaughter, 14 years old). 1956
It is likely that Ingeborg Dönitz continued to work as a physician in the pre-war and war years, since after the war and while Karl Dönitz was in Spandau, from 1947 to 1956 she worked in a hospital in Hamburg, first as a nurse, and then as a registrar for a professor of medicine Henry Kunstman. With the departure of Karl Dönitz from Spandau in October 1956, Ingeborg left medicine and spent the rest of her years with her husband and grandchildren. Ingeborga Doenitz died on May 2, 1962 at the age of 69. Karl Doenitz outlived his wife by 18 years and died at the age of 89 on December 24, 1980.
Karl and Inge Doenitz.
Doenitz's son-in-law Günter Hessler opened his own business after the war and later became the owner of the factory. However, at the age of 58, Hessler died on April 4, 1968. It was a difficult time for Karl Dönitz, when he first became a widower and then widowed his daughter as well. There is no mention of the further fate of Ursula Doenitz, including her death. It is possible that she is still alive, although she may now be in her 90s.
Returning to the question of the picture of the Hessler family, there is no doubt that the baby in the photo is none other than the eldest grandson of Karl Doenitz Peter.
As a small addition, I’ll add that the reason for the death of Karl Dönitz Friedrich’s elder brother became known (I wrote about him). Friedrich died during one of the Allied bombings of Berlin.
As usual, Vladimir Nagirnyak pored over the analysis.
During the period of development of the Third Reich, which we are now considering, only a small part of Karl Dönitz's activity as head of the Kriegsmarine falls, since Grand Admiral Erich Raeder retired only on January 30, 1943.
I would like to note once again that attempts from Raeder-"Pioner" to make Reder-"Kurier'a" led not only to the resignation of the grand admiral, but also to more unpleasant phenomena for Germany: numerous defeats at sea, tensions between senior officers and the collapse of the naval surface fleet. Doenitz, too, could not be taken without stretch as an ideal model of either the Kurier type or the Wachmann type, but long before he came to power, the role of the Navy in the war was already so belittled that its activities were not of decisive importance.
Karl Doenitz was born near Berlin in the town of Grünau on September 16, 1891. His father, Emil Doenitz, an optical engineer at the Jena firm of Carl Zeiss, was widowed early and took the upbringing of his two sons very seriously, giving them all the remaining tenderness and care. There were no aristocrats in their family, therefore, in peacetime, the Doenits never connected their fates with army service. Another thing is the navy - here the son of a respectable burgher could rise to the rank of officer's shoulder straps.
Young Karl graduated from the Stoic Educational Institution, which was then considered very prestigious. Since he showed a special interest in history and the natural sciences, was fond of painting and drawing, read the memoirs of the polar explorer Nansen and Asian connoisseur Sven Hedin, he himself wanted to become a "pioneer". This dream was also encouraged by my father, who spent almost every vacation on the islands of the North Sea. Therefore, there was nothing surprising in the fact that one fine day in 1910, Karl Doenitz entered the naval school of the city of Kiel, which by that time his future boss, Erich Raeder, was finishing.
At that time in the system of training future naval officers there was an iron principle: everyone had to know all types of service both on land and on board a ship. Doenitz studied well and fell in love with everything that concerned him future profession, whether it be navigation, communications, artillery or mine and torpedo business. He was weak only in knowledge of the statutes, which were considered one of the most important disciplines. Later, already a referent in the Ministry of the Armed Forces, Karl Doenitz would correct himself and make up for lost time.
In 1912, he was transferred to the naval school in Mürvik, and upon graduation, with the rank of lieutenant zur see Doenitz, he was appointed officer of the watch on the Breslau light cruiser, which cruised the Mediterranean Sea, participating in the international blockade of Montenegro. The beginning of the First World War for the sailors of the Breslau was a fierce attack by the English squadron. The Germans with difficulty broke away from the attackers and united with Turkish fleet, which was heading to the Black Sea to attack Russian ports. In May 1915, this German cruiser broke into the Novorossiysk harbor, sank all the Russian ships along the pier, and blew up the oil storage. However, two months later, on a roadstead in the Bosphorus Strait, the Breslau hit a mine, and it was sent for repairs. The team was written off to the shore, and Doenitz's further service took place first at the front as a gunner and air spotter, and then at headquarters.
The following year, he was promoted and sent to retrain as an officer of the submarine fleet. The courses lasted only four months, and at the end of January 1917, De-nitz was assigned to the submarine U-39 as a torpedo officer. According to the memoirs of Doenitz himself, duty near the torpedo tube turned out to be more fruitful for him than memorizing theoretical truths in the courses. A year later, he receives under his command the submarine UC-25 with a displacement of 417 tons, which was more minelayer than a torpedo submarine.
Once on the Mediterranean raid, Doenitz showed himself in all his glory. A week after going to sea, he sank a cargo steamer, and then broke into the inner roadstead of the Sicilian port of Augusta and sank a huge Italian coal carrier, which he mistook for the English floating workshop Cyclops. For this feat, the Kaiser personally presented the captain with the Order of the House of Hohenzollern. On the next campaign, Doenitz torpedoes four more enemy ships. He fails to achieve more, since his submarine is not capable of carrying more than 5 torpedoes. He is given a new submarine UB-68. It is larger and faster, although less stable when submerged.
In October 1918, this causes a tragedy. Doenitz attacks a British convoy escorting a 4,000-ton transport, masterfully torpedoes the enemy, but when submerged, turns out to be a helpless target for the destroyers surrounding him. Three of the crew drowned, the rest, along with the commander, were captured. Doenitz finds himself in an officer's camp near Sheffield.
Here the young officer shows his characteristic inventiveness and originality of thinking. He understands that sooner or later they will all be allowed to go home, but unlike many others, he is seriously worried about the future fate in his homeland. He is well aware that after the war in Germany there will be thousands of useless and unemployed officers. In order not to get lost in this crowd, he needs to be one of the first to return to his homeland. And he starts acting crazy.
For hours he sits on the site and senselessly rearranges empty cans. He achieves his goal: the camp authorities, recognizing him as mentally deranged as a result of shell shock, send him to Germany on one of the first ships. Returning home in July 1919, Doenitz is instantly cured of the "results of shell shock" and goes to serve on military base in Kiel.
Service at the base turned out to be rather monotonous, and Doenitz painfully seeks contacts with those who, contrary to the terms of the Versailles Treaty, are preparing the development of the future navy Germany. He is transferred to a torpedo boat and rises to the rank of lieutenant commander, and in 1923 the search is crowned with success and he is returned to the shore in Kiel to participate in the development new series depth charges. Then staff work begins in Berlin under the command of Raeder. There is an active development of a new naval charter and regulations on military crimes. It is curious that even these documents are clearly colored by the anti-communist and pro-Nazi sentiments of their authors, although Doenitz tries to keep aloof and not get involved in politics. However, in 1924, hardly anyone else could say with certainty which political map will become a trump card in ten years, and our lieutenant commander has always tried to play for sure.
This tactic of neutrality soon paid off. When the Reichstag deputies began to discuss the so-called "Lohman scandal" (for more details, see the section on Raeder) and declassified the production of submarines in Turkish shipyards, the government was forced to make a complete renovation general staff. Almost everyone was dismissed - Doenitz was appointed commander of the 4th torpedo semi-fleet. Under his command were 4 torpedo boats and 28 officers commanding six hundred sailors. In fact, these were maneuvers not controlled by the Reichstag with an indefinite time and schedule. Only in the autumn of 1929 did they "remember" the submarine army. Its activities were evaluated by Rear Admiral Walter Hohenzollern, who was officially listed as the second deputy chief of staff, but was actually responsible for the secret training of the German submarine fleet. He gave Doenitz a very high rating. Yes, and for what. In the course of previous trainings, the lieutenant commander developed a lot of new tactics, which he now uses, having brilliantly "sinked" the convoy of a conditional enemy.
As a military officer who has shown outstanding abilities, Doenitz is transferred to the headquarters of the North Sea region, where he is in charge of ... the leadership of the internal security service.
Apparently, by that time, the future Rear Admiral had calculated the future of both his own and his country far away. In any case, his political preferences are perceived unequivocally by the authorities. He actively fought against the communists and soon earned a business trip, first in trip around the world and then to the UK to improve their in English. Upon his return, Doenitz is assigned to command the light cruiser Emden.
The Nazis come to power. In March 1935, Adolf Hitler denounces Treaty of Versailles and instructs the Kriegsmarine to come to grips with the active production of submarines. June 6 Karl Doenitz is appointed "Führer of submarines". By the autumn he was promoted, from now on he is the captain of the zur see, and 11 small submarines with an average displacement of 24 tons are subordinate to him.
However, the captain does not have to rejoice. The leadership of the Kriegsmarine gathered people who see in submarines only a peculiar vehicle, allowing you to secretly transfer to Right place soldier or cargo. All attempts by Doenitz to open their eyes to the new possibilities of using submarines fail, as the admirals are fascinated by dreams of "big ships".
Doenitz developed the tactics of "wolf packs" - a system of joint actions of several submarines. To do this, he needed a lot of 600-ton submarines. But Raeder's assistants were interested in something completely different: a displacement of at least 2 thousand tons. In their opinion, such massiveness made the boats more durable. All Doenitz's arguments in favor of other qualities - invisibility, invulnerability to depth charges and low cost of manufacture in mass production - were wasted. Rear Admiral Raeder did not believe in the possibility of a blockade of Great Britain with 300 light and medium submarines.
Doenitz always knew what would happen tomorrow. Sometimes he calculated the development of this or that process for several years ahead. In any case, unlike the General Staff, he knew about the war with England in advance. Therefore, immediately after the Polish campaign, he launched attacks on british navy and its ports. He personally planned such a major operation as a breakthrough in Scapa Flow (into the "bedroom of Her Majesty's Navy"). He went out to meet every, literally every submarine returning from a military campaign. He personally checked the living conditions and life of his sailors. Of course, he enjoyed their love, trust and appreciation. The divers were ready to go to the very bottom for him. At first he had only 57 submarines. Until 1940, their production did not exceed two units per month, which did not prevent the pupils of "Papa Karl" from sinking 50-60 enemy ships every month.
After 1940, Germany began to produce 6 submarines per month. However, the British learned to defend themselves against underwater attacks. They developed a system of direction finders that determined the approach of German submarines for several miles, and made several hundred special aircraft that accurately dropped deep mines on an underwater enemy. At first, Doenitz's losses became commensurate with the losses of the enemy, and then exceeded them. In addition, the matter was greatly hampered by the intervention of the highest generals of the fleet and the Fuhrer himself, who had a bad habit of sending combat crews of submarines to unnecessary death at the most unexpected moment. So, for example, in May 1942, at the height of the Denitz sailors' hunt for American transport ships, Hitler ordered 20 reconnaissance submarines to be sent to the coast of Norway. Doenitz almost staged a riot about this, but the Fuhrer insisted on his own, and in order to calm the obstinate captain, he promoted him to admiral. Another time, the commander-in-chief had the idea to send 30 submarines to the Mediterranean Sea, although due to the strong current in the Strait of Gibraltar, these submarines could never return to the Atlantic.
Retiring, Grand Admiral Raeder offered Hitler two candidates for his place: Admiral Karl Doenitz and General Admiral Rolf Karls. It is difficult to say what the latter would have done if the choice of the Fuhrer had fallen on him. But Karl Doenitz was appointed head of the Kriegsmarine. The first thing the new Commander-in-Chief of the Navy did on January 30, 1943, was to dismiss everyone who could compete with him in this post, and above all Rolf Karls. The German fleet did not strengthen such a decisive step, but strengthened the position of Doenitz himself.
The second act of the former “submarine leader” was no less paradoxical: he persuaded Hitler not to destroy the surface fleet when the Fuhrer was about to send it to be melted down. True, the argumentation of the new Grand Admiral was peculiar. According to his proposal, the available German cruisers were to divert a significant part of the enemy's naval forces. It was strange to hear this from a man who, in a fatherly way, took care of his submarines, their crews, met them after each trip, escorted them to their resting place, and provided them with everything they needed! And the same man was now suggesting that huge warships with their crews be used as living targets to distract the enemy's forces! Such a support of our own under the blows of the enemy could last quite a long time, but the end result - the death of sailors and ships - was obvious to everyone, including the Fuhrer and the Grand Admiral. Difficult man was Karl Doenitz!
The implementation of his ideas was constantly interfered with by the leaders of the Kriegsmarine, headed by Commander-in-Chief Raeder, and these interferences were carefully and purposefully organized, and then approved and blessed by the Fuhrer. And despite this, surprisingly, among the highest officers Karl Doenitz was the most ardent fanatic of Nazism! Even Goebbels, with his pathological passion for the rational justification of any actions of Hitler, could not be compared with this dry staff officer who attacked his opponents on Nuremberg Trials where, it would seem, such behavior could only hurt him. And this man from early youth until his death claimed that he was absolutely not interested in politics!
Having headed the Navy, Doenitz, of course, tried to solve all the problems associated with submarine warfare. But time has passed, many things were already impossible to solve. In March 1943, his submarines, reinforced with additional torpedo launchers, sank 120 enemy ships. It cost Germany eleven submarines. In April, the account was: 64 ships for 15 submarines. In May, the Allies launched a targeted attack on the German submarine fleet. Were involved recent achievements science and technology (bombers launched from aircraft carriers near submarine bases, advanced radars, depth charges, etc.). The attackers lost 56 ships with a total displacement of about 300 thousand tons, but Germany lost 41 submarines. Such a Pyrrhic victory nevertheless forced Doenitz to withdraw his “wolf packs” from the Atlantic.
Grand Admiral changes strategy. Firstly, all production forces rush to produce up to 25 submarines per month. Secondly, the "flocks" are diverted to a safer water area for them - to the Caribbean Sea. Thirdly, they activate Scientific research, aimed at strengthening the submarine fleet in the fight against a well-equipped enemy. But time has passed. When the development of the type XXI submarine, which could change the balance of forces at sea, is completed, the sea is closed to Germany.
The grand admiral's efforts become convulsive, bordering on hysteria. He throws his submarines into the attack on the enemy, regardless of the losses. Hundreds of sailors, whom he cared for so much in the recent past, are now dying in fierce battles. During the landing of the allied forces in France, 82 submarines were lost, having managed to sink only 21 enemy ships. In total, 780 out of 820 submarines died in the “Battle of the Atlantic”, and 32 thousand out of 39 thousand sailors, most of which died in the last two years.
On April 29, 1945, Hitler announced that he was appointing Karl Doenitz as his successor. The next day the Fuhrer committed suicide, and Martin Bormann informed Doenitz by telegram of his appointment. In response, an enthusiastic oath followed: “My Fuhrer! My devotion to you is boundless. I will do everything in my power to come to your aid in Berlin. If, however, fate commands me to lead the Reich as your appointed successor, I will follow this path to the end, striving to be worthy of the unsurpassed heroic struggle of the German people.
The grand admiral still believed that the Fuhrer was alive. It is curious that Doenitz did not take any actions aimed at sending any forces “to help Berlin”, although he managed to work on the composition of the government and further strategy. And it was like this: withdraw the military forces as quickly as possible to the west so that they could surrender to the Americans or the British there, conduct diversionary maneuvers in the east, and call on the civilian population to restore the country. The latter involved psychological rather than practical effect: it was necessary to oppose something to the horror of defeat that gripped all the Germans.
On May 23, in Mürwik, the British arrested the last head of the Third Reich, along with the remnants of his government.
Dönitz's position at the Nuremberg trials was like a distorted reflection of Keitel's position. Doenitz also believed that it was pointless to discuss Hitler's orders, but not because he had nothing to do with them, but because these were the orders of the brilliant Fuhrer. The second position turned out to be no less deformed: “ I, - Doenitz proclaimed, - a soldier who honestly carried out orders, so I do not bear responsibility for them". In the approval of this concept, he was actively assisted by his lawyer Heinrich Kranzbüller, a former lawyer in the Kriegsmarine, who usually played the role of a judge.
Whoever becomes a soldier, - he quoted from the charters, - that body and soul belongs to his commander. He does not have to decide whether the cause for which he goes to battle is just or unjust. His enemies are not chosen by him, but for him. His duty is to obey, not to question.
Doenitz did not say a word.
The admirals of the victorious countries unexpectedly came out in defense of their colleague. They convincingly argued that their own practice of warfare was no less cruel, but the reason for this was the peculiarity of naval battles, and not the hardheartedness of Grand Admiral Doenitz. As a result of such a demarche of the international host, Doenitz was sentenced to only 10 years in prison. He served his sentence in the Spandau prison, where, as in his distant youth, he fiddled with banks for hours; however, now they were seedlings. The grand admiral became very interested in vegetable growing and completely fenced himself off from his former colleagues. He served his term in full and, having been released, returned to his wife, with whom he lived until her death in 1962. After his release, he wrote a lot, published two volumes of memoirs and a monograph on the strategy of the Kriegsmarine during the war. Having become a widow, he became addicted to religion, attended all church services, and prepared his own grave.
On January 6, 1981, Karl Dönitz died, mourned by dozens of surviving comrades in arms.
Summing up this section, it is quite easy to determine the socio-psychological type of Karl Doenitz. Analytical thinking, the desire to build his ideas about the world in the form of rigid autonomous models, a keen perception of the perspective of the process and at the same time a passionate unwillingness to succumb to other people's pressure, insisting on his own - all this indicates that Karl Doenitz has everything characteristics type "Robespierre" according to Jung's classification. These qualities are manifested in him throughout his life. But the behavior of Doenitz as a military leader is somewhat more diverse. At the beginning of his career, he is an active officer, independent in decisions, preferring to act at his own peril and risk, not caring about how his superiors will look at his exploits, and not wanting to know the charters. Assessment from the outside is so unimportant for him and does not have the slightest value that he decides even on such a risky step as feigning insanity in captivity. How it was implemented, to what result it led - this is not so significant. For us, the very fact that such an idea could come to his mind and become the basis of specific plan. The attitude towards subordinates is emphatically caring, paternally warm, sometimes even going beyond the accepted norms. The ability not only to calculate the prospect, but also to use these calculations in their actions. Constant disputes with the leadership about the wrong, from his point of view, orders.
All this taken together characterizes Doenitz as a military leader of the "Pionier" type. But all this changes completely when Doenitz becomes Grand Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Kriegsmarine.
The most attentive attitude to the judgments of the authorities, the most humble submission to any will from above. He picks up and praises the Fuhrer's adventurous ideas: his decision to hold Tunisia at any cost or to defend the Courland Pocket at the end of 1944 with the forces of the North group. Always squeamish about "politicking", after his rise, Karl Doenitz suddenly begins to engage in propaganda of the Nazi movement, calls for a decisive offensive and, in general, conducts propaganda in the navy in the spirit of Goebbels. Finally, perhaps most importantly, he stops paying attention to his subordinates; this is what causes the death of thousands of German sailors in senseless attacks on enemy paratroopers in France. All these features are more characteristic of a completely different type of military leader: "Kurier" ("messenger").
It is not known whether the rational approach of the talented planner became the reason for such a transformation, or whether it occurred under the influence of the subconscious perception of the situation, but it is quite obvious that Doenitz turned from a "discoverer" into a "messenger", which is quite consistent with our assumptions. In the second period of the development of the Third Reich, as expected, the bullies go into secondary roles, and obedient mindless performers come to the fore. In the case of Doenitz, the opposite happened in time, but not in essence: while he was on the sidelines, his independent activity overcame all obstacles at the level of individual operations, while Doenitz's emergence as a leader neutralizes all his leadership qualities. It is quite possible that this is precisely what he earned the high confidence of the Fuhrer, who appointed Doenitz as his successor.
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An interesting moment from attempts to create an external image of Karl Doenitz in cinema.
This is Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, Commander of the Navy of the Third Reich.
So what do we see in this photo?
Before us is a man aged 50 in the uniform of the highest officers of the German Navy during the Third Reich. The tunic is double-breasted, on the right side in the chest area there is a golden eagle - the symbol of the Reich Armed Forces, on the left side there are order bars, and below them are four awards - the Sign of the submariner of the Third Reich, the sign of the eagle unknown to me (maybe someone will correct it), the Iron Cross of times 1- th degree of the times of the First World War and the Badge of the Submariner of the First World War. Oh, I forgot to mention the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and the Oak Leaves to it, worn around the neck on a tricolor ribbon. This is how Doenitz usually looks in a photo from the war. Sometimes an honorary gold sign of a member of the Nazi party is added to his external image, which Hitler presented to Doenitz on January 30, 1944. Therefore, if you see a gold sign of "party member" in Doenitz's photo, then this is a sign that the photo was taken after this date. The uniform always sat on Doenitsa, like a glove, the uniform was very suitable for the admiral, well, as a veteran of the fleet, he knew how to wear it. As for external data, the admiral was tall, very thin, had long arms, a large head, a very high forehead, bald patches and a narrow face that narrowed at the chin. The admiral had slightly protruding ears.
Now that we know what Admiral Doenitz looked like in reality, let's turn to a couple of examples from the cinema, where an attempt was made to produce him externally.
1. "Sinking" Laconia "
This film was based on real events that took place in September 1942, when the submarine U 156 by V. Hartenstein sank the British military transport Laconia in the Atlantic. This is probably the only film where the role of Doenitz is one of the main ones and the director had to try to reveal the image of the admiral on the screen very deeply. In my opinion, it turned out unsuccessfully. The role of Doenitz was played by actor Thomas Kretschman. Here's what his character looked like on screen
Despite the absolute external difference between Kretschman and the original, it is worth paying tribute to the costumers and consultants - appearance They reproduced Doenitz with minimal errors. In the film, the hero of Kretschman does not wear order bars, but Doenitz did not always wear them on his tunic. The rewards are in almost the correct order. The only thing I noted was the lack of real photo Doenitsa ribbon in the buttonhole of the tunic of the ZhK ribbon of the 2nd class. He almost never wore it that way.
2. TV series "Convoy PQ-17" (2004)
The series is based on the book by V. Pikul. The image of Doenitz is episodic there. The role of Karl Doenitz is played by the actor Yevgeny Merkuriev (now deceased).
On this frame from the film there are submarine commander Ziggers (actor A. Devotchenko) and Admiral Denitz (E. Merkuriev)
If the creators of "The Sinking of the Laconia" deserve "five with a minus" for creating the appearance of the admiral, then the dressers and consultants of the "Convoy" cannot get anything but a "stake" (in one place). The tunic of the admiral in the film resembles a Papuan Christmas tree more, than the uniform of an admiral from the time of the Third Reich. Firstly, the admiral is some kind of "crumpled", the tunic dangles on the actor, as if on a hanger. For some reason, the color of the tunic is black, not dark blue. A golden "bug" was hung on his lapel, which he was not in 1942. The order bar is generally a masterpiece. Doenitz never wore a "scrambled egg" - the order of the German Cross (in silver or gold), which hangs on Merkuriev. He simply did not have it. Well, the most powerful blunder is sign "For long hike", which was issued to the crew members of battleships and cruisers in the Kriegsmarine. With him, the absolute and true submariner Karl Doenitz looks indescribably stupid. However, it is worth noting one positive fact. Merkurev really has a physical resemblance to Doenitz - he looks like him in face. True, not on that 50-year-old Doenitz, and on Doenitz after Spandau.At the time of filming the series, the actor was almost 70 years old.
As a summing up of the analysis of the image of Doenitz in these films.
Both films made mistakes in creating the external image of the admiral. If in "Laconia" Kretschman, who is completely different from Doenitz, has practically no blunders in terms of the admiral's appearance, then in "Convoy" Merkuriev, who is very similar to the elderly Denitz, in terms of historical appearance, looks extremely ridiculous. It turns out that in a Western film there was an overlay with the selection of an actor in terms of external similarity, but in our series it turned out the other way around - the actor looks like his hero in appearance, but his appearance (clothes, awards) have nothing to do with historical reality.
