Quote:
|
Yes, Doenitz sacrificing thousands of lives, sending out crews he knew had little chance and would make no difference to the war's outcome just so he could suck up to the corporal.
|
While I won't disagree with the "sucking up to the corporal" thing, I actually don't think that first part of your rant really holds water, at least as it applies to 1943.
Recall from Peter Cremer's book that Doenetz sent Cremer out in
U-333 starting 31 August 1943 to try to find out what the hell was happening in the North Atlantic. He took Cremer from the BdU staff for the patrol so clearly he needed someone close to him whom he could trust. However, this also indicates that he did not understand that Black May was decisive and that the Type-VII with Wolfpack tactics were no longer viable.
BdU was in an information-scarce environment as too many boats were being sunk while surviving captains provided contradictory accounts of what was actually happening. Plus, he was now Chief of the Naval Staff, possibly over tasked and no longer running the day to day activities of BdU. Recall that Doenitz was a mere captain zur see with little staff experience in 1939 and just four-years later was running the entire show. It's not too far fetched to speculate that he may have been in over his head but unwilling/unable to see it.
Add National Socialist hubris, a lack of solid tactical analysis, poor scientific assessment and an over inflated sense of the current capabilities his pet arm of service and you can also conclude that the war BdU was actually fighting in the summer of 1943 bore little relation to the salad days of the convoy battles just one-year earlier and they could not determine why.
I'm not a fan of Doenitz the man but in this case, Doenitz the Admiral probably should get a pass for 1943. Von Friedeburg should probably wear more of the failings of BdU at this time but his historical status as a" grey man" has pretty much insulated him from accountability. That said, your sentiments are a perfect match for 1944 and the Inshore Campaign but I suspect a bit harsh for the previous year.
-C