DONITZ, KARL

born Sept. 16, 1891, Grnau-bei-Berlin, Ger. died Dec. 22, 1980, Aumhle, W.Ger. German naval officer and creator of Germany's World War II U-boat fleet who for a few days succeeded Adolf Hitler as German head of state. During World War I, Dnitz served as a submarine officer in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. In the aftermath of Hitler's accession to power, despite the Versailles Treaty's absolute ban on German submarine construction, Dnitz clandestinely supervised the creation of a new U-boat fleet, over which he was subsequently appointed commander (1936). In the midst of World War II, in January 1943, he was called to replace Adm. Erich Raeder as commander in chief of the German Navy. His loyalty and ability soon won him the confidence of Hitler. On April 20, 1945, shortly before the collapse of the Nazi regime, Hitler appointed Dnitz head of the northern military and civil command. Finallyin his last political testamentHitler named Dnitz his successor as president of the Reich, minister of war, and supreme commander of the armed forces. Assuming the reins of government on May 2, 1945, Dnitz retained office for only a few days. In 1946 he was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment by the International Military Tribunal at Nrnberg. He was released from prison in 1956 and retired on a government pension. His memoirs were published in 1958.