Memoirs: Ten Years And Twenty Days (Paperback)

by Karl Doenitz (Author) "AT THE END of September 1918, Lieutenant-Commander Steinbauer, holder of the Order Pour le Merite..." (more)
Key Phrases: magnetic firing, proceeding submerged, contact pistol, Naval High Command, United States, North Atlantic (more...)

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Product Description
Commander of the U-boat fleet, Supreme Naval Commander, and finally Hitler's successor in the last days of the Third Reich, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz (1891-1980) has been condemned as a Nazi and praised as one of the most brilliant and honorable military leaders of the war. His "wolf-pack" tactics resulted in a handful of U-boats sinking 14.5 million tons and nearly deciding the Battle of the Atlantic. Sentenced to ten years at the Nuremberg Trials, Doenitz wrote his memoirs upon his release. In a clear firm style he discusses the planning and execution of the U-boat campaign; the controversial sinking of the Laconia; America's "neutrality" before its entry into the war; the Normandy invasion; the July 1944 bomb plot; his encounters with Raeder, Goring, Speer, Himmler, and Hitler; as well as his own brief tenure as the last Fuhrer. Introduced by two acclaimed historians who knew Doenitz well, this invaluable work allows the reader to view the war at sea through the periscope's eye.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (March 21, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807645
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807640
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #377,176 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Revealing Book Regarding the U-boat War, November 3, 1999

By	Kurt Chankaya "chankaya" (Nagoya, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Memoirs: Ten years and twenty days

"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.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An insight into naval command, January 5, 2001

By	Tom Munro "tomfrombrunswick" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Memoirs Ten Years and Twenty Days (Paperback)

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.

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Overview of U-Boat War, March 16, 1999

By	Alan Dale Daniel (St. George, UT, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.