Doenitz had an impossible job. He had to achieve total victory with paltry resources and no influence over the inner circle until after it was feasible to win the war.
Had he had the support of the Luftwaffe, the industrial support of Germany, had Hitler waited a bit longer to start the war, had they not invested in the irrelavent battleships and poured that into U-boats, and had Hitler not chickened out on Sealion and had avoided confrontation with Russia then... well then maybe we're talking about a different war.:hmm:
I don't think that Doenitz had the power, position, or luck to be able to influence the victory over England that Hitler wanted, not with the way things were in the Nazi regime.
Maybe, just maybe he could have swayed Hitler to his favour earlier in the 30s if he'd had the mind to do it, but then the Kriegsmarine had a plan that said that there wouldn't be war until 1945 and also Raeder was in charge so Doenitz didn't have the influence then either.
Me, I don't think I could have won as Doenitz. Not unless Hitler was my biggest fan and Goering chocked on a piece of Braughtwurst before Poland and died leaving a more adequate successor in charge that didn't want all the glory.
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