“My Fuhrer…
you can’t be serious!”
“Admiral Raeder!
Mind your words!”
Once again, I found myself in a scene that felt strangely familiar.
This time, however, the argument wasn’t between Party officials.
The men facing each other were Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and Himmler.
There was a third admiral in the room as well—Karl Donitz—but judging from his expression, he looked like someone who had no idea how he was supposed to react.
“My Fuhrer!” Raeder exclaimed.
“What do you mean by canceling the new battleships?
Those ships are the Navy’s greatest ambition!
Other nations are already planning battleships to counter the Scharnhorst class.
If we’re to face those fleets, the Reich must have more powerful battleships of its own!”
From Raeder’s perspective, this must be unbearable.
The reason I’d summoned Raeder, Donitz, Himmler, Economics Minister Schacht, and Air Minister Goring today was to announce a sweeping revision of Germany’s naval rearmament program.
Strictly speaking, Himmler had little to do with naval affairs.
But a man who commanded the SS—and who worshipped the Fuhrer with near-religious devotion—made for an intimidating presence.
His mere attendance placed enormous pressure on the admirals.
And today…
There were several painful decisions I had to force through.
The first was the cancellation of the new battleship program.
The second was the cancellation of the planned heavy cruisers.
And finally, a complete redesign of the aircraft carriers that were still on the drawing board.
“Admiral Raeder,” I said calmly, “I understand the Navy’s dream.
The Navy’s dream is Germany’s dream.”
I paused.
“But we must deal in reality.”
“Can the Reich truly build a fleet capable of defeating the British and French navies in a head-on battle?”
“That…”
Raeder fell silent.
He wasn’t a particularly talkative man to begin with.
Even in conferences, he usually spoke only when necessary.
Public speaking was hardly his strength.
Yet today’s announcement had shocked even him into raising his voice.
“Since confronting the Royal Navy and the French fleet directly is beyond our means,” I continued, turning my attention elsewhere, “then surely you understand what strategy Germany should adopt.”
I looked at Donitz.
“Tell me, Admiral.”
Donitz hesitated briefly, clearly aware that his answer would contradict his superior’s position.
Still, he answered without wavering.
“Commerce raiding.”
“Exactly.”
Germany’s future at sea did not lie in fleet battles.
“It lies in commerce warfare.”
“Our highest priority from this point forward is to build a commerce-raiding force large enough to force Britain to her knees.”
“B-But, my Fuhrer!” Raeder protested.
“What happens when enemy surface fleets appear?
With such a weak surface navy, we won’t even be able to leave the Baltic Sea!”
That’s the strange thing about the German Navy’s thinking at this point in history…
Why insist on using surface warships for commerce raiding at all?
The objective and the method had somehow become reversed.
What they truly wanted was to rebuild the great High Seas Fleet that had once challenged Britain before the First World War.
Commerce raiding had become little more than the excuse.
In reality…
If your goal was to disrupt enemy shipping, submarines were unquestionably the more efficient weapon.
The mere presence of submarines forced an enemy to organize merchant ships into escorted convoys.
In dangerous waters, captains would even have to steam in constant zigzags, continually changing course to avoid becoming predictable targets.
The so-called zigzag pattern.
It wasted fuel.
It slowed every voyage.
Even if no submarine ever fired a torpedo, the economic damage had already begun.
Convoy systems brought their own problems.
Instead of merchant vessels departing independently whenever they were ready, dozens of ships had to gather before sailing together under naval escort.
Yes, it reduced losses to submarines.
History would later show that larger convoys were generally safer and more efficient to defend.
But they also created an entirely different bottleneck.
Ports.
If fifty or sixty cargo ships arrived at once, every one of them had to be unloaded at the same time.
Without containerization, unloading cargo in this era demanded enormous amounts of labor and time.
Even if wartime emergency measures provided more dockworkers…
You couldn’t build new piers overnight.
Sooner or later, the ports themselves became the greatest obstacle to supplying the nation.
“Admiral Raeder,” I said, “if submarines are carrying out the commerce war, why should they ever seek battle with enemy surface fleets in the first place?”
I paused.
“And besides…”
This was something only someone with knowledge of the future could say.
“Goring.”
I turned toward the Reichsminister of Aviation.
“Do you believe the Luftwaffe is capable of sinking enemy warships?”
“Certainly.”
Goring answered without the slightest hesitation.
“I have no doubt of it.”
Well…
that’s just Goring being Goring.
As far as he’s concerned, airplanes can solve everything.