Erich Raeder
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Erich Johann Albert Raeder (24 April 1876 – 6 November 1960) was a German admiral who played a major role in the
naval history of World War II At the start of World War II, the Royal Navy was the strongest navy in the world, with the largest number of warships built and with naval bases across the globe. It had over 15 battleships and battlecruisers, 7 aircraft carriers, 66 cruisers, 16 ...
and was convicted of
war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
after the war. He attained the highest possible naval rank, that of
grand admiral Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, the highest rank in the several European navies that used it. It is best known for its use in Germany as . A comparable rank in modern navies is that of admiral of the fleet. Grand admirals in individual ...
, in 1939. Raeder led the
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
for the first half of the war; he resigned in January 1943 and was replaced by
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
. At the
Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...
he was sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
but was released early owing to failing health in 1955.


Early years

Raeder was born into a middle-class
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
family in
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in the
Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...
province of
Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
in the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. His father was a headmaster. Raeder idolised his father Hans Raeder, who as a teacher and a father was noted for his marked authoritarian views, and who impressed upon his son the values of hard work, thrift, religion and discipline – all of which Raeder was to preach throughout his life.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' pp. 1–2. Hans Raeder also taught his children to support the existing government of alleged "non-political" experts led by Bismarck who were said to stand "above politics" and were alleged to only do what was best for Germany. In the same way, Hans Raeder warned his children that if Germany were to become a democracy, that would be a disaster as it would mean government by men "playing politics"-doing what was only best for their petty sectarian interests instead of the nation. Like many other middle-class Germans of his time, Hans Raeder strongly disliked the
Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
, whom he accused of playing "party politics" in the ''Reichstag'' by promoting working class interests instead of thinking about the national good, a stance that his son also adopted.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 2. Throughout his entire life, Raeder claimed that he was ''apolitisch'' (someone who was "above politics", i.e. only thought about the good of the nation instead of his party), and as an "apolitical" officer, Raeder thus maintained that his support for sea power was based upon objective consideration of the national good.


Naval career until World War II


Imperial German Navy

Raeder joined the ''
Kaiserliche Marine The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term was used partic ...
'' (Imperial Navy) in 1894 and rapidly rose in rank, becoming chief of staff for Franz von Hipper in 1912. Raeder's rise up the ranks was due mostly to his intelligence and hard workBird ''Erich Raeder'' p. xxvi. though from 1901 to 1903 Raeder served on the staff of
Prince Heinrich of Prussia A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in some ...
, and gained a powerful patron in the process.Thomas p. 51. Owing to his cold and distant personality, Raeder was a man whom even his friends often admitted to knowing very little about. The dominating figure of the Navy was Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (; born Alfred Peter Friedrich Tirpitz; 19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperi ...
, the autocratic State Secretary of the Navy. Tirpitz's preferred means of obtaining "world power status" was through his ''Risikotheorie'' (risk theory) where Germany would build a ''Risikoflotte'' (Risk Fleet) that would make it too dangerous for Britain to risk a war with Germany, and thereby alter the international balance of power decisively in the ''Reich'' favor. Tirpitz transformed the Navy from the small coastal defense force of 1897 into the mighty High Seas Fleet of 1914. In 1904, Raeder, who spoke fluent
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, was sent to the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
as an observer of the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 13. Starting in 1905, Raeder worked in the public relations section of the Navy, where he first met Tirpitz and began his introduction to politics by briefing journalists to run articles promoting the ''Seemachtideologie'' and meeting politicians who held seats in the ''Reichstag'' in order to convert them to the ''Seemachtideologie''. Working closely with Tirpitz, Raeder was heavily involved in the lobbying the ''Reichstag'' to pass the Third Navy Law of 1906 which committed Germany to building "all big gun battleships" to compete with the new British in the Anglo-German naval race that had only begun at the start of the 20th century.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' pp. 14–15. Raeder was the captain of
Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...
's private yacht in the years leading up to World War I. In itself, this was not a rewarding post, but often people in this post were quickly promoted afterwards.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 17.


World War I

Raeder served as Hipper's chief of staff during World War I, as well as in combat posts. He took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 and in the
Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
in 1916. Raeder later described Hipper as an admiral who "hated paperwork"; accordingly, Hipper delegated considerable power to Raeder, who thus enjoyed more influence than his position as chief of staff would suggest. During and after World War I the German navy was divided into two schools of thought. One, led by Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (; born Alfred Peter Friedrich Tirpitz; 19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral and State Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperi ...
(1849–1930), consisted of avid followers of the teachings of the American historian
Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan (; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States Navy officer and historian whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His 1890 book '' The Influence of Sea Pow ...
(1840–1914) and believed in building a "balanced fleet" centered around the battleship that would seek out and win a decisive
battle of annihilation Annihilation is a military strategy in which an attacking army seeks to entirely destroy the military capacity of the opposing army. This strategy can be executed in a single planned pivotal battle, called a "battle of annihilation". A succ ...
(''Entscheidungsschlacht'') against the Royal Navy in the event of war. The other school, led by Commander Wolfgang Wegener (1875–1956), argued that because of superior British shipbuilding capacity Germany could never hope to build a "balanced fleet" capable of winning an ''Entscheidungsschlacht'', and so the best use of German naval strength was to build a fleet of cruisers and submarines that would wage a ''
guerre de course Commerce raiding is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging its combatants or enforcing a blockade against them. Privateering is a form o ...
'' (commerce raiding against an enemy's merchant shipping). After reading all three of Wegener's papers setting out his ideas, Admiral Hipper decided to submit them to the Admiralty in Berlin, but changed his mind after reading a paper by Raeder attacking the Wegener thesis as flawed. This marked the beginning of a long feud between Raeder and Wegener, with Wegener claiming that his former friend Raeder was jealous of what Wegener insisted were his superior ideas.Hansen p. 81. In May 1916 Raeder played a major role planning a raid by Hipper's battlecruisers that aimed to lure out the British battlecruiser force which would then be destroyed by the main High Seas Fleet. This raid turned into the
Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland () was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, durin ...
. Raeder played a prominent role, and was forced midway through the battle to transfer from to as a result of damage to Hipper's flagship. As chief of staff to Admiral Hipper he was closely involved in a plan of Hipper's for a German battlecruiser squadron to sail across the Atlantic and sweep through the waters off Canada down to the West Indies and on to South America to sink the British cruisers operating in those waters, and thereby force the British to redeploy a substantial part of the
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
to the New World.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 89. Though Hipper's plans were rejected as far too risky, they significantly influenced Raeder's later thinking. On 14 October 1918, Raeder received a major promotion with appointment as deputy to Admiral Paul Behncke, the Naval State Secretary. Raeder had doubts about submarines, but he spent the last weeks of the war working to achieve the Scheer Programme of building 450 U-boats. On 28 October 1918 the Imperial German fleet at Kiel mutinied when some of the ships' crews refused to sail out for the a final battle against the British
Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from th ...
that the Admiralty had ordered without the knowledge or approval of the German government.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 34. Raeder played a major role in attempting to crush the mutiny.


Weimar Republic

Raeder's two younger brothers were both killed in action in the First World War, and in 1919 his first marriage, which had been under heavy strain due to war-related stress, ended in divorce.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 49. For the puritanical Raeder, the divorce was a huge personal disgrace, and for the rest of his life he always denied his first marriage. The years 1918–1919 were some of the most troubled in his life.


High Seas Fleet mutiny

In the winter of 1918–19, Raeder was closely involved in the efforts of the naval officer corps, strongly backed by the Defense Minister
Gustav Noske Gustav Noske (9 July 1868 – 30 November 1946) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He served as the first Minister of Defence (''Reichswehrminister'') of the Weimar Republic between 1919 and 1920. Noske was known for u ...
to disband the workers' and soldiers' councils established after the Kiel mutiny. Noske was a Majority Social Democrat with firm "law and order" views. During this period, Raeder served as the liaison between the naval officer corps and Noske, and it was Raeder who suggested to Noske on 11 January 1919 that Adolf von Trotha be appointed commander-in-chief of the Navy.Bird ''Erich Raeder'' p. 37. Tirpitz's attacks on the Emperor's leadership during the war had caused a split in the officer corps between the followers of "the Master" and the Kaiser, and Raeder saw Trotha as the only officer acceptable to both factions. Noske in turn asked the Navy for volunteers for the ''
Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...
'' to crush uprisings from the Communists. The Navy contributed two brigades to the ''Freikorps''. Under the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
, the military considered itself ''überparteilich'' (above party), which did not mean political neutrality as implied.Bird ''Weimar'' p. 140. The military argued that there were two types of "politics": ''parteipolitisch'' (party politics) which was the responsibility of the politicians, and ''staatspolitisch'' (state politics) which was the responsibility of the military. ''Staatspolitisch'' concerned Germany's "eternal" interests and the "historic mission" of winning world power, which was to be pursued regardless of what the politicians or the people wanted.


Kapp ''putsch''

After the war, in 1920, Raeder was involved in the failed
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to ...
when, together with almost the entire naval officer corps, he declared himself openly for the "government" of
Wolfgang Kapp Wolfgang Kapp (24 July 1858 – 12 June 1922) was a German conservative and nationalist and political activist who is best known for his involvement in the eponymous 1920 Kapp Putsch. He spent most of his career working for the Prussian Mini ...
against the leaders of the Weimar Republic. In the summer of 1920 Raeder married his second wife, with whom he later had one son. After the failure of the Kapp ''Putsch'' he was marginalized in the Navy, being transferred to the Naval Archives, where for two years he played a leading role in writing the official history of the Navy in World War I. After this, Raeder resumed his steady rise in the navy
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Ancient Greek, Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy ...
, becoming ''
Vizeadmiral (; abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Ko ...
'' (vice admiral) in 1925.


Commander-in-chief

On 1 October 1928, Raeder was promoted to
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
and made chief of the Naval Command (''Chef der Marineleitung'') of the '' Reichsmarine'', the Weimar Republic Navy. On 1 June 1935, the ''Reichsmarine'' was renamed the ''
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
'' and Raeder became its commander-in-chief with the title of ''Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine''. On 20 April 1936, Raeder was promoted to the new rank of '' Generaladmiral'' and granted the rank and authority of a ''
Reichsminister Reichsminister (in German singular and plural; 'minister of the realm') was the title of members of the German Government during two historical periods: during the March Revolution of 1848/1849 in the German Reich of that period, and in the mode ...
'' but without the formal title. On 30 January 1937, Hitler conferred the
Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge () was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers from 1 to 100,000 (issued on 1 Oc ...
on Raeder, thereby enrolling him in the Party (membership number 3,805,228).


World War II

Raeder believed the navy was unprepared for the start of World War II by at least five years. The surface fleet was inadequate to fight the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
and instead adopted a strategy of convoy raiding. Raeder wanted the Kriegsmarine to play an active part because he feared the budget would be cut after the war. The smaller ships were dispersed around the world in order to force the Royal Navy to disperse their ships to combat them, while the battleships would carry out raids in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
, with a view towards gradually reducing the Royal Navy's strength at home. Raeder was unhappy with the outcome of the Battle of the River Plate and believed that Hans Langsdorff should not have scuttled the ship, but instead sailed out to engage the Royal Navy. Fleet commander Hermann Boehm was held responsible and was sacked by Raeder, who also issued orders that ships were to fight until the last shell and either win or sink with their flags flying. The Allies were using Norwegian airfields to transfer aircraft to the Finns fighting against the Soviets in the
Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...
, as well as mining Norwegian waters, and the Germans were alarmed by these developments. If the Allies were to use Norwegian naval bases or successfully mine Norwegian waters, they could cut off Germany's vital iron ore imports from Sweden and tighten the blockade of Germany. The Allies had made plans to invade Norway and Sweden in order to cut off those iron ore shipments. Admiral
Rolf Carls Rolf Hans Wilhelm Karl Carls (29 May 1885 – 24 April 1945) was a high-ranking German admiral and deputy to Kriegsmarine commander-in-chief Erich Raeder during much of World War II. Carls served as ''Flottenchef'' (Fleet commander (Kriegsmarine ...
, commander of the Kriegsmarine in the Baltic Sea region, proposed the invasion of Norway to Raeder in September 1939. Raeder briefed Hitler on the idea in October, but planning did not begin until December 1939. The operation was in low-priority planning until the ''Altmark'' incident in February 1940, during which a German tanker carrying 300 Allied prisoners in then-neutral Norwegian waters was boarded by sailors from a Royal Navy destroyer and the prisoners were freed. After this, plans for the Norwegian invasion took on a new sense of urgency. The invasion proved costly for the Kriegsmarine, which lost a heavy cruiser, two of its six light cruisers, 10 of its 20 destroyers and six U-boats. In addition, almost all of the other capital ships were damaged and required dockyard repairs, and for a time the German surface fleet had only three light cruisers and four destroyers operational in the aftermath of the Norwegian campaign. The swift victory over
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
allowed the Kriegsmarine to base itself in ports on France's west coast. This was strategically important as German warships would no longer have to navigate through the dangerous English Channel in order to return to friendly ports, as well as allow them to range farther out into the Atlantic to attack convoys. With the surrender of France, Raeder saw the opportunity to greatly enhance the navy's power by confiscating the ships of the French Navy and manning them with his crews. Hitler however, vetoed this idea, afraid that doing so would push the French navy to join the Royal Navy. British fears of Raeder's plan resulted in the
Attack on Mers-el-Kébir The attack on Mers-el-Kébir (Battle of Mers-el-Kébir) on 3 July 1940, during the Second World War, was a British naval attack on French Navy ships at the naval base at Mers El Kébir, near Oran, on the coast of French Algeria. The attack was ...
, in which the Royal Navy attacked the French navy despite being at peace with France. On 11 July 1940, Hitler and Raeder agreed to continue building the battleships called for by
Plan Z Plan Z was the re-equipment and expansion of the ''Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) ordered by Adolf Hitler in early 1939. The fleet was meant to challenge the naval power of the United Kingdom, and was to be completed by 1948. Development of the plan ...
. Raeder also had bases built at
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
on the
Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...
and at
Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...
and
Lorient Lorient (; ) is a town (''Communes of France, commune'') and Port, seaport in the Morbihan Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in western France. History Prehistory and classical antiquity Beginn ...
on the
Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...
. At this time, Raeder and other senior officers began submitting memos to invade (among others) Shetland, Iceland, the Azores, Iran, Madagascar, Kuwait, Egypt and the Dutch East Indies. In January 1941, the battlecruisers and were sent on a successful commerce-raiding mission in the Atlantic. On 18 March, following the beginning of
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft) * 28 naval vessels: ** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign) * ...
, Raeder wanted to start firing on US warships even if unprovoked. He declined to invade the Azores because of the surface ship losses the previous year. Raeder urged Hitler to declare war on the United States throughout 1941 so the Kriegsmarine could begin sinking American warships escorting British convoys. In April 1941, Raeder planned to follow up the success of ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau''s commerce-raiding mission with an even larger mission involving a battleship, two battlecruisers and a heavy cruiser under the command of Lütjens, codenamed
Operation Rheinübung Operation Rheinübung () was the last sortie into the Atlantic by the new German battleship and heavy cruiser on 18–27 May 1941, during World War II. This operation aimed to disrupt Allied shipping to the United Kingdom as the previously ...
. The original plan was to have the battlecruisers ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' involved in the operation, but ''Scharnhorst'' was undergoing heavy repairs to her engines, and ''Gneisenau'' had just suffered a damaging torpedo hit days before which put her out of action for six months. In the end only the and were sent out on the mission, which ended with ''Bismarck''s sinking. The debacle almost saw the end of using capital ships against merchant shipping. Hitler was not pleased and saw the resources used in the construction and operation of the large ''Bismarck'' as a poor investment. In late 1941, Raeder planned the "channel dash" which sent the remaining two battleships in the French ports to Germany, for further operations in Norwegian waters. The plan was to threaten the Lend-Lease convoys to the Soviet Union, to deter an invasion of Norway, and to tie down elements of the Home Fleet that might otherwise have been used in the Atlantic against the U-boat wolfpacks. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
Raeder, along with Field Marshal Keitel and Reichsmarschall Göring, urged Hitler to immediately declare war on the United States in view of the US war plan
Rainbow Five During the 1920s and 1930s, the United States Armed Forces developed a number of color-coded war plans that outlined potential US strategies for a variety of hypothetical war scenarios. The plans, developed by the Joint Planning Committee (which l ...
, and to begin the U-boat attacks off the US east coast, which was later called the "
Second Happy Time The Second Happy Time (; officially (), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping and Allied naval ve ...
" by German submariners.


Resignation

On 30 January 1943, following Hitler's outrage over the Battle of the Barents Sea,
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
, the supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine's U-boat arm, was promoted to grand admiral, and Raeder was named admiral inspector, a ceremonial office. Raeder had failed to inform Hitler of the battle, which Hitler learned about from the foreign press. Hitler thought the '' Lützow'' and lacked fighting spirit, according to
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
. The reorganisation fitted Speer's goal of working more closely with Dönitz.


Post-war


Nuremberg trial

Raeder was captured by Soviet troops on 23 June 1945 and imprisoned in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. At the end of July, he was taken to
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
to stand trial on the counts of: (1) conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; (2) planning, initiating, and waging wars of aggression; and (3) crimes against the laws of war. Raeder was found guilty on all countsBiagi, p. 2757 and sentenced to life imprisonment.Biagi, p. 2759 He was surprised as he had expected to be sentenced to death. His wife, supported by German veterans, led several campaigns to free him until, on account of his ill health, he was released on 26 September 1955.


Death

Raeder wrote his autobiography, ''Mein Leben'', using a
ghostwriter A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
. He died of
natural causes In many legal jurisdictions, the manner of death is a determination, typically made by the coroner, medical examiner, police, or similar officials, and recorded as a vital statistic. Within the United States and the United Kingdom, a distinc ...
in
Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
on 6 November 1960. His wife had died the previous year. He is buried in the ''Nordfriedhof'' (North Cemetery) in Kiel. Former Grand Admiral
Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...
attended his funeral on 12 November 1960.


Service summary


Dates of Navy rank

* ''
Seekadett ''Seekadett'' (short SKad or SK; ,Langenscheidt´s Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the English and German language: „Der Große Muret-Sander“, Part II German-English, Second Volume L–Z, 8th edition 1999, ; p. 1.381 ) is a military rank of the ...
'' (Sea cadet): 13 May 1895 * '' Unterleutnant zur See'' (Sub-Lieutenant): 25 October 1897 * ''
Leutnant zur See is a military rank, used in a number of navies. Belgium Germany (''Lt zS'' or ''LZS'') is the lowest officer rank in the German Navy, grouped as OF1 in NATO. The rank was introduced in the German Imperial Navy by renaming the former ...
'' (Lieutenant): 01 January 1899 * ''
Oberleutnant zur See (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the ''Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as Ranks and insignia of officers of NATO Navies, OF-1 in NATO. The rank was ...
'' (Senior Lieutenant): 09 April 1900 * ''
Kapitänleutnant , short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( or ''lieutenant captain'') is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the modern German . The rank is rated Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers, OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to i ...
'' (Captain-Lieutenant): 21 March 1905 * ''
Korvettenkapitän (; ) is the lowest ranking Field officer, senior officer in the German navy. Germany Korvettenkapitän, short: KKpt/in lists: KK, () is the lowest senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. Address The official manner, in li ...
'' (Lieutenant-Commander): 15 April 1911 * ''
Fregattenkapitän () is the middle ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany , short: FKpt / in lists: FK, is the middle Senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. It is the equivalent o ...
'' (Commander): 26 April 1917 * ''
Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...
'' (Captain): 29 November 1919 * '' Konteradmiral'' (Rear-Admiral): 1 August 1922 * ''
Vizeadmiral (; abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Ko ...
'' (Vice-Admiral): 10 September 1925 * ''
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
'' (Admiral): 1 October 1928 * '' Generaladmiral'' (General-Admiral): 20 April 1936 * '' Grossadmiral'' (Grand Admiral): 1 April 1939


Awards and decorations

*
Order of the Double Dragon The Imperial Order of the Double Dragon () was an Order (decoration), order awarded in the late Qing dynasty. The Order was founded by the Guangxu Emperor on 7 February 1882 as an award for outstanding services to the throne and the Qing court. ...
, 3rd class, 2nd Level (China, 10 October 1898) * China Medal (German Empire, 12 December 1901) *
Order of the Red Eagle The Order of the Red Eagle () was an order of chivalry of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was awarded to both military personnel and civilians, to recognize valor in combat, excellence in military leadership, long and faithful service to the kingdom, o ...
, 4th class (Prussia, 22 June 1907) * Honorary Knight 2nd class of the
House and Merit Order of Peter Frederick Louis The House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: ''Haus und Verdienstorden von Herzog Peter Friedrich Ludwig'') or proper German Oldenburg House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Frederick Louis (German: ''Oldenburgischer Haus- und Verd ...
with Silver Crown (Oldenburg, 17 September 1907) * Order of the Red Eagle, 4th class with Crown (Prussia, 5 September 1911) * Commander's Cross of the
Order of Franz Joseph The Imperial Austrian Order of Franz Joseph () was founded by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria on 2 December 1849, on the first anniversary of his accession to the imperial throne. Classes The order was originally awarded in three classes: ''G ...
(Austria, 16 September 1911) * Commander's Cross of the
Order of the Redeemer The Order of the Redeemer (), also known as the Order of the Saviour, is an order of merit of Greece. The Order of the Redeemer is the oldest and highest decoration awarded by the modern Greek state. Establishment The establishment of the Orde ...
(Greece, 14 May 1912) *
Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...
, 2nd class (Russia, 16 April 1913) *
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
(1914) 2nd Class (19 November 1914) & 1st Class (18 February 1915)Dörr 1996, p. 142. * Imtiyaz Medal in silver with Swords * Ottoman War Medal (also known as the "Gallipoli Star" or "Iron Crescent") * Friedrich August Cross, 1st and 2nd class (Oldenburg) * Knight's Cross of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern with swords (5 June 1916) * Military Merit Order, 4th class with swords and crown (Bavaria, 20 December 1916) * War Commemorative Medal (Bulgaria, 20 November 1917) * Military Merit Cross, 3rd class with war decoration (Austria-Hungary, 4 September 1918) * Honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy,
University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...
(31 May 1926) * Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit (Spain, 16 November 1928) * Commander's Cross with Star of the
Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...
(Chile, September 1928) * World War Commemorative Medal with swords on (Hungary, 3 June 1931) * Grand Officer of the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...
(Italy, 7 May 1934) * Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria, 28 June 1934) * Cross of Honour (9 October 1934) *
Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...
, 1st class (Hungary, 5 December 1934) * Grand Cross of the
Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...
(27 February 1936) *
Wehrmacht Long Service Award The Wehrmacht Long Service Award () was a List of military decorations of the Third Reich, military service decoration of Nazi Germany issued for satisfactory completion of a number of years in military service. History On 16 March 1936, Adolf ...
, 1st class (2 October 1936) * Olympic Games Decoration, 1st class (16 August 1936) *
Golden Party Badge __NOTOC__ The Golden Party Badge () was an award authorised by Adolf Hitler in a decree in October 1933. It was a special award given to all Nazi Party members who had, as of 9 November 1933, registered numbers from 1 to 100,000 (issued on 1 Oc ...
(30 January 1937) * Grand Cross of the
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus () (abbreviated OSSML) is a Roman Catholic dynastic order of knighthood bestowed by the royal House of Savoy. It is the second-oldest order of knighthood in the world, tracing its lineage to AD 1098, a ...
(Italy, 20 September 1937) *
Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...
, 1st class (Japan, 9 November 1937) * War Memorial Medal (Bulgaria, 30 November 1937) * Golden Medal of Honour of Hamburg (1 April 1939) * Grand Cross of the Order of Naval Merit in White (Spain, 21 August 1939) *
Sudetenland Medal The 1 October 1938 Commemorative Medal () was commonly known as the Sudetenland Medal. It was a decoration of Nazi Germany awarded during the interwar period, and the second in a series of Occupation Medals. Description Instituted on 18 October ...
(25 October 1938) with "Prague Castle" clasp (Sudetenspange) (19 September 1939) * Memel Medal (26 October 1939) *
Clasp to the Iron Cross Clasp, clasper or CLASP may refer to: * Book clasp, fastener for a book cover * Folding clasp, a device used to close a watch strap * Lobster clasp, fastener for jewellery * Wrist clasp, a dressing accessory * Medal bar, an element in militar ...
, 1st and 2nd class (30 September 1939) *
Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. While it was order of precedence, lower in preceden ...
(nr.1) (30 September 1939) as ''Großadmiral'' and ''Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine''Scherzer p. 611. * Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword (Sweden, 18 October 1940) * Grand Cross of the
Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Or ...
(Sweden, 24 October 1940) * Grand Cross of the
Military Order of Savoy The Military Order of Savoy was a military honorary order of the Kingdom of Sardinia first, and of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946), Kingdom of Italy later. Following the abolition of the Italian monarchy, the order became the Military Order of ...
(4 April 1942) * Grand Cross Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir with swords and other decorations (Croatia, 26 September 1942) * Grand Cross of the
Order of Merit of the Kingdom of Hungary Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...
with war ribbon with swords (Hungary, 8 February 1943) * Grand Cross of Order of St Alexander with swords (Bulgaria, 3 September 1941) *
Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave () is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King of Romania, King Ferdinand I of Romania, Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign (World War I), Romanian Campaign of the World War I ...
, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Class (Romania, 14 October 1941) * Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty (Finland, 25 March 1942)


References


Citations


Bibliography

* Alexander, Bevin, ''How Hitler Could Have Won World War II'', New York: Three Rivers Press. 2000. . * Bergen, Doris, "'Germany Is Our Mission: Christ Is Our Strength!' The Wehrmacht Chaplaincy and the 'German Christian' Movement" pp. 522–536 from ''Church History'' Volume 66, Issue # 3, September 1997. * Bird, Eugene, ''The Loneliest Man in the World, Rudolph Hess, in Spandau'', London: Sphere, 1976. * Bird, Keith, ''Weimar, The German Naval Officer Corps and the Rise of National Socialism'', Amsterdam: Grüner, 1977, . * Bird, Keith, ''Erich Raeder Admiral of the Third Reich'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2006, * Buchanan, Patrick, '' Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World'', New York: Random House, 2008, . * Dörr, Manfred (in German). ''Die Ritterkreuzträger der Überwasserstreitkräfte der Kriegsmarine – Band 2:L–Z''. Osnabrück, Germany: Biblio Verlag. 1996. . * Fischer, Kurt (in German). ''Großadmiral Dr. phil. h.c. Erich Raeder''. In: Gerd R. Ueberschär (ed.): ''Hitlers militärische Elite Band 1: Von der Anfängen des Regimes bis zum Kriegsbeginn'' (pp. 185–194). Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. 1998. . * Gilbey, Joseph, ''Kriegsmarine: Admiral Raeder's Navy – A Broken Dream'', 2006. * Goda, Norman: ''Tomorrow the World: Hitler, Northwest Africa, and the Path Toward America'', Texas A&M University, 1998, . * Goda, Norman: "Black Marks Hitler's Bribery of his Senior Officers During World War II" pp. 96–137 from ''Corrupt Histories'' edited by Emmanuel Kreike and William Jordan, University of Rochester Press, 2005, . * Goda, Norman, ''Tales from Spandau: Nazi Criminals and the Cold War'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007, . * Hankey, Maurice ''Politics, Trials and Errors'', Clark, New Jersey: Lawbook Exchange, 2002, . * Hansen, Kenneth "Raeder versus Wegener Conflict in German Strategy" pp. 81–108 from ''U.S. Naval War College Review'', Volume 58, Issue # 4, Autumn 2005. * Herwig, Holger, "The Failure of German Sea Power, 1914–1945: Mahan, Tirpitz, and Raeder Reconsidered" pp. 68–105 from ''The International History Review'', Volume 10, Issue #1, February 1988. * Kallis, Aristotle, ''Fascist Ideology Territory and Expansionism in Italy and Germany 1922–1945'', Routledge: London, 2000 . * Kershaw, Ian, ''Fateful Choices Ten Decisions that Changed the World 1940–1941'', Penguin: London, 2007, . * Mulligan, Timothy P. "Ship-of-the-Line or Atlantic Raider? Battleship ''Bismarck'' Between Design Limitations and Naval Strategy" pp. 1013–1044 from ''The Journal of Military History'', Volume 69, Issue # 4, October 2005. * Murray, Williamson & Millet, Alan, ''A War to Be Won Fighting the Second World War'', Cambridge: Belknap Press, 2000, . * Padfield, Peter, ''Dönitz: the Last Führer'', London: Victor Gollancz, 1984, . * Rahn, Werner, "The War at Sea in the Atlantic and in the Arctic Ocean" pp. 301–441 from ''Germany and the Second World War Volume VI The Global War Widening of the Conflict into a World War and the Shift of the Initiative 1941–1943'' edited by Günther Roth, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2001 . * Raeder, Erich,
My Life
', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1960. * * * Thomas, Charles. ''The German Navy in the Nazi Era'', Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1990, . * Wette, Wolfram '' The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006, . * Weinberg, Gerhard, ''The Foreign Policy of Hitler's Germany Diplomatic Revolution in Europe'', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970, . * Weinberg, Gerhard, ''A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005, . * Wheeler-Bennett, John, ''The Nemesis of Power: The German Army in Politics 1918–1945'', London: Macmillan, 1967, .


External links


Raeder versus Wegener Conflicts in German Naval Strategy
by Commander Kenneth Hansen *
Raeder, Erich Johann Albert
at World War II Graves (includes the plot number) {{DEFAULTSORT:Raeder, Erich 1876 births 1960 deaths Admirals of the Reichsmarine Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Sword Commanders of the Order of Franz Joseph German people convicted of the international crime of aggression German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment German Protestants Grand admirals of the Kriegsmarine Grand Crosses of Naval Merit Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (military) Grand Crosses of the Order of Military Merit (Bulgaria) Grand Crosses of the Order of the Cross of Liberty Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Imperial German Navy personnel of World War I Kapp Putsch participants Knights Grand Cross of the Military Order of Savoy Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus Military personnel from Hamburg Military personnel from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein Naval history of World War II People convicted by the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg People from Wandsbek Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by international courts and tribunals Recipients of the clasp to the Iron Cross, 1st class Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross Recipients of the Order of Michael the Brave, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Crown of King Zvonimir Recipients of the Silver Imtiyaz Medal