Erich Raeder, the son of
a headmaster, was born in Wandsbek, Schleswig-Holstein,
on 24th April, 1876. After a good classical
education he entered the Imperial Navy in
1894. He made rapid progress and became Chief
of Staff to Franz von Hipper in 1912. During
the First World War he saw action and in 1928
was promoted to admiral and head of the German
Navy.
Raeder disliked the domestic policies of
the National Socialist German Workers Party
(NSDAP) but supported Adolf
Hitler in his attempts to restore Germany
as a great power. In 1939 Hitler promoted
Raeder to the rank of grand admiral, the first
German to hold this post since Alfred von
Tirpitz.
Raeder's strategy was to build a German Navy that
could challenge the British Navy. This brought him into conflict with Hermann Goering who as
director of the German economy directed more resources to the Luftwaffe
than the navy.
In October 1939, Raeder sent Adolf Hitler a proposal
for capturing Denmark and Norway. He argued that Germany would not be
able to defeat Britain unless it created naval bases in these countries.
In April 1940 Hitler gave permission for this move but he was disappointed
by the heavy losses that the German Navy suffered during the achievement
of this objective.
Raeder supported Operation Sealion, the planned German
invasion of Britain, but argued that first the Luftwaffe had to gain
air superiority. When Hermann Goering failed to win the Battle
of Britain, Reader advised Hitler to call off the invasion. He was
also a strong opponent of Operation
Barbarossa.
Adolf Hitler grew increasingly disillusioned
with the performance of the German Navy and
after the Luetzow and Admiral Hipper failed to stop a large Arctic convoy he accused
his commander of incompetence. Raeder resigned
in January 1943, and was replaced by Karl
Doenitz as Commander in Chief of the Navy.
At the Nuremberg
War Crimes Trial Raeder was found guilty of conspiring to wage aggressive war and was sentenced
to life imprisonment. He was released in 1955 and in retirement wrote
his memoirs Mein Leben (1957). Erich Raeder died in Kiel, on November
6, 1960.
