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Memoirs: Ten Years And Twenty Days

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"Memoirs: Ten Years and 20 Days" is the autobiography of Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, who commanded the German U-boat fleet from 1935 to 1945 (for ten years and 20 days - hence the title). Winston Churchill said that Doenitz's U-boats in the Atlantic were the only military threat that ever had him really worried, and this is an inside look at the man behind it. Doenitz, a U-boat commander in WWI, was captured and became a POW. He rose slowly in the peacetime navy, and then became commander of all U-boats just as Hitler's re-armament went into high gear. Still Doenitz describes how he had to struggle against the land mentality of the German military and Hitler (the navy never got more than 5% of German war production), and a woefully small U-boat fleet in the first few years of the war. Then allied countermeasures became so strong that after May 1943 the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic had clearly turned against the U-boats, their effectiveness dropping each month in tandem with their increasing casualties. The vast majority of his crews died in battle - a higher percentage than any other field of service. Yet his crews never faltered in their volunteer service, despite the suicidal losses. That he could inspire such loyalty is a tribute to his leadership skill and style, which he discusses in detail. Considered a war criminal and submarine warfare considered piracy by the allies, he was tried and convicted at Nuremberg, where one of his chief defense witnesses was US Admiral Nimitz, whose submarine war in the Pacific against Japan was, if anything, even more ruthless. The book contains many interesting insights and details from a man who, by all accounts, was a principled warrior devoid of Nazi beliefs or political ambition - an apolitical approach to command that won respect and trust from an unusual corner: Hitler. Doenitz ended up succeeding Hitler as Fuhrer, during which, among other things, he fired Himmler (Doenitz conducted the actual surrender to the allies). The book is well written, and a good insight into 'the other side'. He is clearly defensive about being a convicted war criminal, and makes and interesting and impassioned case that the US was grossly violating neutrality long before its entry into WWII (most historians agree). He was also unaware of how totally compromised his radio traffic was ('Ultra' was still secret when he wrote his memoirs), so there is no reflection on how his gabby, tightly centralized (and therefore radio traffic intensive) command style contributed to his defeat both through decrypts and radio direction finding. Like any commander's memoirs, this is not the balanced history a 'first timer' in the subject should read, but it is an interesting and important read for anyone interested in either WWII sub warfare or the dynamics of command, as long as one already has some background in the subject.

My friend lent me this book. It was my first book on the naval aspect of the Second World War. I figured after the hundreds I had read on the land and air element I should start to look into the naval war. I could not put this book down, I devoured it. I have been gobbling up submarine books since that day.
Wow! First you have to be awed by the fact that this is a book written by the man that became the successor to Hitler. Second, its the best way to get the big picture of the U-boat campaign from the German viewpoint. Doenitz wrote this before he found out about allied successes in breaking his naval codes.
There are many fascinating stories here, about individual submarine actions, convoy battles, raids, rescue missions. Great stuff that you could make into great movies some day. You really get a good sense of how close the Germans were to winning the war. Thankfully, and Doenitz goes into it, the Third Reich did not take the U-boat arm seriously until it was too late. Whew!
Doenitz was charged with war crimes after the war and jailed. Specifically for conducting unrestricted submarine warfare.
Like every nazi that seems to write after the war - he defends himself by saying that being at the front he was not aware of everything going on back at home. Truth? Maybe, maybe not. But you cannot stop yourself from sympathizing with the man who was left holding the bag in May of 1945. We forget that the Allies waged unrestricted submarine warfare against the Japanese from the beginning. Doenitz has written that some American admirals were sympathetic after the war, and tried to get him acquitted. Very interesting story. A must for every World War Two reader.

As a student of history, I found this book to be an excellent source for WWII history. Not only does he discuss the battles and the commanders, he also discussed the realities of war, and dealing with Hitler. A must read for anyone interested in WWII.

Do you know Doenitz? Are you a WWII enthusiast? A historian? A submariner? Then, this book is a MUST HAVE. There are lots of books about the WWII submarine campaign, from both sides, many of them better written. So what's special? No other book provides that specific background knowledge and information. Why didn't Germany build more submarines than it did in the crucial early years? How did the wolf pack tactics evolve? What measures did the German Naval High Command take after discovering their torpedo crisis? How did they counter Allied scientific breakthroughs? Why didn't they devine Enigma was being broken? Finally, you will hear the German opinion about Roosevelt's "Short of War" strategy - nowaday's United Nations would be in turmoil...

Second, if you can read between the lines, this book will reveal the personality of one of the mightiest leaders of WWII. Was he a war criminal? Maybe, but certainly his biggest crime was to be a soldier (with very limited horizon apart from his daily duty) who happened to fight on the wrong side. Bad luck, for both sides...

This book certainly doesn't replace other narratives about the "Atlantic War", but it supplements all of them. Only here, you can find the background story.

If you're looking for more WWII memoirs, try Doenitz' superior, Raeder, and DON'T OVERLOOK Churchill, as he was the greatest writer among all of them.

If you still have no idea as to who Doenitz might have been, then try to read Lothar Guenther Buchheim's vivid picture about how the submariners themselves felt, instead; that is indeed great war literature.

This is an excellent summary of the U-Boat war from the man who ran the German side of the conflict. He admits his errors frankly. His writing style is direct and factual. An outstanding book for any student of World War II.

Ten Years and Twenty Days is a direct reference to the time Karl Doenitz spent in Spandau Jail having been convicted of War Crimes.

As an English boy growing up in a post-war Britain (I was born in 1950), we would play games where the Germans always lost - just like the Cowboys always won and the Indians always lost. Much later in life, I began to research various ships and shipwrecks through my scuba diving and the name of Karl Doenitz came up time and again. Over many years I came to respect this man for the way in which he conducted both himself and his branch of the war with Britain. I consider him to have been an honourable enemy of my country.

Having read so many accounts of this once great Admiral before reading his own memoirs, I have reached the conclusion that he was convicted of no more a crime than "being one of the enemy" and it was for that he served his ten years and twenty days. Others, of course, were directly responsible for the great human atrocities of WW2 and it was they who were either sentenced to death of life imprisonment.

I am sure there are those who will disagree with my assessment of this man - and, indeed, their own assessment may be more accurate. Nevertheless, this book is a great work and one which should be read by all those with an interest in Karl Doenitz the German Naval Officer and Karl Doenitz - the last Fuhrer who's first task on succeeding Hitler was to seek peace.

NM

This is not a book of words, it is a life, a soul and a confession by the head of the UBoat Command, the German Navy, and the man who was made Furher by Hitler when Hitler decided to commit suicide.

And as these are his memoirs, he has had time to reflect from his jail cell on his history and he has a message for you, me and all of us.

Donitz's recounting of the last two weeks of Germany before the surrender, and while he was Furher, taught me that WWII is not an adventure story, it is a horror story. This portion of the book, the last chapter, is the most incredible chapter I have ever read on WWII, or anything else for that matter.

Before hearing his story, I was your typical WWII buff, reading the books, reciting the exciting parts...always wondering why the WWII veterans in my family tree refused to talk about the war. And, if you, want exciting stories full of incredible UBoat exploits, then this could be the book for you.

But, eventually, he made it all so real to me that his writings, his experiences, they shamed me, they taught me of my gross naivety. You start to feel his pain, and the pain was great.

And he taught me why my old uncles never talked about it. They wanted to forget the pain. But, sadly, their children, such as I, were left with nowhere to learn this. We saw only the Hollywood version.

I will never be able to read a WWII book looking for adventure stories anymore. Donitz's memoirs cured me of that. May we never have another war. And I thank him for the lesson.

This has been one of a number of books in either biography or memoirs categories of the elite or main players from World War 2 that I have read and again this is excellent reading.
The book gives details of his earlier career in the German Navy during World War 1, inter war years then through to World War 2 and his days as the last leader of the Third Reich - covers everything from torpedeo development / failures, submarine development or advancement to counteract Allied advances in anti submarine warfare, uboat losses and the aces, the constant pressing to enlarge the uboat fleet and gain a naval air arm - this book is well written, easy to follow and certainly not something you will get bored with.

Karl Doenitz was the mastermind of the German U-Boat Campaign in the battle of the Atlantic. He was a fanatical Nazi and his loyalty to Hitler led to him being named his successor and he rang what was left of Germany for a few days prior to surrender.

His memoirs are well written interesting and clearly the work of an intelligent man. Doenitz was a officer on U-Boats in the first world war. In that war the convoy system had defeated the U-Boats. Anti submarine techniques were ineffectual but the concentration of merchant ships in conveys emptied the seas of ships and meant that most U-Boats were unable to find targets. In the inter war period the British developed ASDIC a sonar system which enabled them to locate submarines under water. The invention of ASDIC made the British confident and as a result the naval agreements negotiated with Germany in the thirties allowed Germany to construct submarines.

Despite this Germany decided to give only a small priority to submarine construction favoring the development of a battleship fleet. At the outbreak of war there were only some 30 submarines in service. Germany's naval construction had been predicated on a war in 1942. As a result the surface navy was small and it only had 4 battleships by 1941. It became clear quickly that the U-Boat was a potent weapon.

Doenitz who had risen to command the U-Boat arm worked out the strategy to make the U-Boat a success. His strategy was to have the U-Boat used as a surface weapon at night. U-Boats were difficult to see and could slip past escorts and sink ships before they were detected. He further developed a tactic which set up a patrol of boats which acted as a picket line and allowed him to direct boats to intercept conveys as they were found.

The book is fascinating as it reveals the development of U-Boat tactics and the miniature of the process of running the U-Boat war. Doenitz describes the training process, how many boats he had to have for those purposes, the design of the optimal boat, problems with torpedoes and the ebb and flow of war.

The problem with the book is that it only gives one side of the campaign. Doenitz himself never really learnt the reason for his defeat.

Technology was one of the big reasons for the German defeat. By 1942 the Allies had started to employ radar which allowed them detect U-Boats shadowing conveys and in conveys. As the Germans developed techniques to detect radar the Allies developed tighter band radar to avoid detection. Radio detection techniques also allowed them to locate U-Boats to avoid them or to sink them. The use of Ultra allowed the penetration of the U-Boat cipher and allowed re-routing of conveys. In addition there was a continual development of weapons technology with the development of hedgehog depth charge systems, Very Lights and Contact fuses.

The best book on the U-Boat campaign is Clay Blair's magnificent two-volume study. Despite that this book is a fascinating portrait of one of the more important German commanders in the war. It is also a good picture of the mechanics of naval command.

Karl Donitz wore many hats in World War II. The one he is most remebered for was his command of the U-Boat Fleet, and later in the War, the whole German Navy! He was faced with an enormous challenge in just these two positions, but then even later he put in charge of the German government and all facets of the many difficult decisions leading to surrender. This book is interesting for the World War II reader, but it is also an interesting study in human nature. Bravery, fear, and courage are displayed throughout this account of the rise and fall of the German Navy. Wonderful and factual!