Chapter XIII: Book 1: , Page 7 (2)

DÖNITZ: Right at the beginning of the war it was our experience that all merchantmen not only took advantage of their radio installations when an attempt was made to stop them, but that they immediately sent messages as soon as they saw any U-boat on the horizon. It was absolutely clear, therefore, that all merchantmen were co-operating in the military intelligence service. Furthermore, only a few days after the beginning of the war we found out that merchantmen were armed and made use of their weapons.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What orders on the part of Germany resulted from these experiences?

DÖNITZ: They first brought about the order that merchantmen which sent radio messages on being stopped could be attacked without warning. They also brought about the order that merchantmen whose armament had been recognized beyond doubt, that is, whose armament one knew from British publication, could be attacked without warning.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: This order concerning attacks on armed merchantmen was issued on 4 October 1939; is that right?

DÖNITZ: I believe so.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Was there a second order, soon after that, according to which all enemy merchantmen could be attacked, and why was that order issued?

DÖNITZ: I believe that the Naval Operations Staff decided on this order on the basis of the British publication which said that now the arming of merchantmen was completed. In addition, there was a broadcast by the British Admiralty on 1 October to the effect that the merchantmen had been directed to ram German U-boats and furthermore—as stated at the beginning—it was clear beyond doubt that every merchantman was part of the intelligence service of the enemy, and its radio messages at sight of a U-boat determined the use of surface or air forces.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did you have reports about that from U-boats, according to which U-boats were actually endangered by these tactics of enemy merchantmen and were attacked by enemy surface or air forces?

DÖNITZ: Yes. I had received quite a number of reports in this connection, and since the German measures were always taken about 4 weeks after it had been recognized that the enemy employed these tactics, I had very serious losses in the meantime—in the period when I still had to keep to the one-sided and, for me, dangerous obligations.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: By these obligations, are you referring to the obligation to wage war against merchantmen according to the Prize Regulations during a period when the enemy’s merchant ships had abandoned their peaceful character?

DÖNITZ: Yes.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did you protest later against the directives of the Naval Operations Staff which led to an intensification of the war on merchantmen, or did you approve these directives?

DÖNITZ: No, I did not protest against them. On the contrary, I considered them justified, because, as I said before, otherwise I would have had to remain bound to an obligation which was one-sided and meant serious losses for me.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Was this intensification of the war against merchantmen by the order to fire on armed merchantmen, and later the order to attack all enemy merchantmen, based on the free judgment of the Naval Operations Staff, or was it a forced development?

DÖNITZ: This development, as I have said before, was entirely forced. If merchantmen are armed and make use of their arms, and if they send messages which summon protection, they force the U-boat to submerge and attack without warning.

That same forced development, in the areas which we patrolled, was also the case with the British submarines, and applied in exactly the same way to American and Russian submarines.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: If, on one side, a merchantman sends a message and opens fire, and on the other side the submarine, for that reason, attacks without warning, which side has the advantage of this development, according to your experience? The side of the merchantman or the side of the submarine?

DÖNITZ: In an ocean area where there is no constant patrolling by the enemy, by naval forces of any kind or by aircraft, as along the coast, the submarine has the advantage. But in all other areas the ship acquires the main attack weapons against a submarine, and the submarine is therefore compelled to treat that ship as a battleship, which means that it is forced to submerge and loses its speed. Therefore, in all ocean areas, with the exception of coastal waters which can be constantly controlled, the advantage of arms lies with the merchantman.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Are you of the opinion that the orders of the Naval Operations Staff actually remained within the limits of what was militarily necessary due to enemy measures, or did these orders go beyond military necessity?

DÖNITZ: They remained absolutely within the bounds of what was necessary. I have explained already that the resulting steps were always taken gradually and after very careful study by the Naval Operations Staff. This very careful study may also have been motivated by the fact that for political reasons any unnecessary intensification in the West was to be avoided.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, these orders we have mentioned were based at that time only on German experiences and without an accurate knowledge of the orders which had been issued on the British side. Now, I should like to put these orders to you; we now have information on them through a ruling of the Tribunal, and I should like to ask you whether these individual orders coincide with your experiences or whether they are somewhat different. I submit the orders of the British Admiralty as Exhibit Dönitz-67. It is on Page 163 in Document Book 3. As you know, this is the Handbook of the British Navy of 1938, and I draw your attention to Page 164, to the paragraph on reporting the enemy.

DÖNITZ: There is no pagination here.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: It is D. M. S. 3-1-55, the paragraph on radio. The heading is “Reporting the Enemy.”

DÖNITZ: Yes.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I will read the paragraph to you:

“As soon as the master of a merchant ship realizes that a ship
or aircraft in sight is an enemy, it is his first and most
important duty to report the nature and position of the enemy by
wireless telegraph. Such a report promptly made may be the means
of saving not only the ship herself but many others; for it may
give an opportunity for the destruction of her assailant by our
warships or aircraft, an opportunity which might not recur.”

Then there are more details which I do not wish to read, on the manner and method, when and how these radio signals are to be given. Is this order in accordance with your experience?

DÖNITZ: Yes. In this order, there is not only a directive to send wireless signals if the ship is stopped by a U-boat—that alone would, according to international law, justify the U-boat in employing armed force against the ship—but beyond that it is stated that as soon as an enemy ship is in sight this signal is to be transmitted in order that the naval forces may attack in time.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: So this order is in accord with the experiences which our U-boats reported?

DÖNITZ: Entirely.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I shall draw your attention now to the Paragraph D. M. S. 2-VII, on Page 165, that is the paragraph on opening fire: “Conditions under which fire may be opened.”

“(a) Against enemy acting in accordance with international
law.—As the armament is solely for the purpose of self-defense,
it must only be used against an enemy who is clearly attempting
to capture or sink the merchant ship. On the outbreak of war it
should be assumed that the enemy will act in accordance with
international law, and fire should therefore not be opened until
he has made it plain that he intends to attempt capture. Once it
is clear that resistance will be necessary if capture is to be
averted, fire should be opened immediately.

“(b) Against enemy acting in defiance of international law.—If,
as the war progresses, it unfortunately becomes clear that in
defiance of international law the enemy has adopted a policy of
attacking merchant ships without warning, it will then be
permissible to open fire on an enemy vessel, submarine, or
aircraft, even before she has attacked or demanded surrender, if
to do so will tend to prevent her gaining a favorable position
for attacking.”

Is this order, that is to say, the order “(a)” and “(b),” in accord with the experiences made?

DÖNITZ: In practice no difference can be established between “(a)” and “(b).” I should like to draw attention in this connection to D. M. S. 3-III, Page 167, under IV; that is the last paragraph of “(b)” of the number mentioned.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: One moment, do you mean “(b)-V”?

DÖNITZ: It says here “(b)-IV”. There...

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: That is not printed, Mr. President.

DÖNITZ: “In ships fitted with a defensive armament, open fire to
keep the enemy at a distance”—that is (b)-IV—“if you consider
that he is clearly intending to effect a capture and that he is
approaching so close as to endanger your chances of escape.”

That means therefore that as soon as the ship sights a U-boat, which during war must be assumed to be there for a reason to effect a capture—the ship will, in its own defense, open fire as soon as it comes within range; that is when the submarine has come within range of its guns. The ship, in using its guns for an offensive action, can act in no other way.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, did the armed enemy vessels act then in the manner which you have described; that is, did they really fire as soon as a submarine came within range?

DÖNITZ: Yes. As early as—according to my recollection, the first report came from a U-boat about that on 6 September 1939.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: With this order, however, we find a further supplement under AMS 1-118, dated 13 June 1940, on Page 165, and here we read:

“With reference to D.M.S. Part 1, Article 53, it is now
considered clear that in submarine and aerial operations the
enemy has adopted a policy of attacking merchant ships without
warning. Subparagraph (b) of this article should therefore be
regarded as being in force.”

That means, then, that the order which we read before, “(b)” was to be considered in effect only from 13 June 1940. Do you mean to say that actually before that, from the very beginning, you acted according to the order “(b)”?

DÖNITZ: I have already stated that between an offensive and defensive use of armament on the part of a ship against a submarine, there is practically no difference at all, that it is a purely theoretical differentiation. But even if one did differentiate between them, then beyond doubt the Reuter report—I believe dated 9 September—which said incorrectly that we were conducting unlimited submarine warfare was designated to inform ships’ captains that now case “(b)” was valid.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I put to you now a directive on the handling of depth charges on merchant ships. It is on Page 168, the reference list. The heading is “Reference List (D),” the date is “14 September 1939.” I read:

“The following instructions have been sent out to all W.P.S.’s:
It has now been decided to fit a single depth charge chute, with
hand release gear and supplied with 3 charges, in all armed
merchant vessels of 12 knots or over.”

Then there are more details and at the end a remark about the training of the crews in the use of depth charges. The distribution list shows numerous naval officers.

Did you experience this use of depth charges by merchant vessels and were such depth charge attacks by merchant ships observed?

DÖNITZ: Yes, repeatedly.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Speaking of a ship with a speed of 12 knots or more, can one say that a depth charge attack against a U-boat is a defensive measure?

DÖNITZ: No. Each depth charge attack against a submarine is definitely and absolutely an offensive action; for the submarine submerges and is harmless under water, while the surface vessel which wants to carry out the depth charge attack approaches as closely as possible to the position where it assumes the U-boat to be, in order to drop the depth charge as accurately as possible on top of the U-boat. A destroyer, that is, a warship, does not attack a submarine in any different way.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You are therefore basing the manner in which you attacked enemy ships on these tactics employed by enemy merchantmen. However, neutral ships also suffered, and the Prosecution charges the German U-boat command expressly with this. What do you have to say to that?

DÖNITZ: Neutral merchantmen, according to the political orders, the orders of the Naval Operations Staff, were only attacked without warning when they were found in operational zones which had been definitely designated as such, or naturally only when they did not act as neutrals should, but like ships which were participating in the war.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: The Prosecution has offered a document in evidence, according to which, in certain ocean areas, attack without warning against neutrals was authorized, beginning January 1940. I am referring to Prosecution Document GB-194. I will read to you the sentence which the Prosecution is holding against you.

THE PRESIDENT: Can you tell us where it is?

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: It is in the British document book, Page 30, Mr. President. In the document book of the Prosecution, Page 30.

[_Turning to the defendant._] I will read you the sentence which is held against you:

“In the Bristol Channel, attack without warning has been
authorized against all ships where it is possible to claim that
mine hits have taken place.”

This order is dated 1 January 1940. Can you tell me whether at that time neutrals had already actually been warned against using this shipping lane?

DÖNITZ: Yes. Germany had sent a note to the neutrals on 24 November 1939, warning them against using these lanes and advising neutrals to use the methods of the United States, whereby American ships—in order to avoid any incidents—had been forbidden to enter the waters around England.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I will hand you the note of which you speak, and I will at the same time submit it to the Tribunal as Exhibit Dönitz-73, to be found on Page 206 of the document book. It is in Document Book 4, Page 206.

This is an excerpt from the War Diary of the Naval Operations Staff, dated 24 November 1939. It has the following text:

“To the Missions, according to enclosed list.

“Telegram.

“Supplement to wire release of 22 October.

“Please inform the Government there of the following:

“Since the warning issued on (date to be inserted here)
regarding the use of English and French ships, the following two
new facts are to be recorded:

“a) The United States has forbidden its ships to sail in a
definitely defined area.

“b) Numerous enemy merchant ships have been armed. It is known
that these armed ships have instructions to use their weapons
aggressively and to ram U-boats.

“These two new facts give the Reich Government occasion to renew
and emphasize its warning, that in view of the increasingly
frequent engagements, waged with all means of modern war
technique, in waters around the British Isles and in the
vicinity of the French coast, the safety of neutral ships in
this area can no longer be taken for granted.

“Therefore the German Government urgently recommends the choice
of the route south and east of the German-proclaimed danger
zone, when crossing the North Sea.

“In order to maintain peaceful shipping for neutral states and
in order to avoid loss of life and property for the neutrals,
the Reich Government furthermore feels obliged to recommend
urgently legislative measures following the pattern of the U.S.
Government, which in apprehension of the dangers of modern
warfare, forbade its ships to sail in an exactly defined area,
in which, according to the words of the President of the United
States, the traffic of American ships may seem imperiled by
belligerent action.

“The Reich Government must point out that it rejects any
responsibility for consequences brought about by disregarding
recommendations and warnings.”

This is the note to which you referred, Admiral?

DÖNITZ: Yes.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In other words, in your opinion, these sinkings in the Bristol Channel could be carried out lawfully as from 1 January?

DÖNITZ: Yes; these ocean areas were clearly limited areas in which hostilities took place continuously on both sides. The neutrals had been warned expressly against using these areas. If they entered this war area, they had to run the risk of being damaged. England proceeded likewise in its operational areas in our waters.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Since you considered these sinkings legal, why was the order given to attack without being sighted, if possible, in order to maintain the fiction that mine hits had taken place? Doesn’t that indicate a bad conscience?

DÖNITZ: No. During a war there is no basic obligation to inform the enemy with what means one does one’s fighting. In other words, this is not a question of legality, but a question of military or political expediency.

England in her operational areas did not inform us either as to the means of fighting she uses or did use; and I know how many headaches this caused me when I was Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, later, in endeavoring to employ economically the small means we had.

That is the principle. At that time when, as Commander of U-boats, I received this order to simulate mine hits where possible, I considered this as militarily expedient, because the counterintelligence were left in doubt as to whether mine sweepers or U-boat defense means were to be employed.

In other words, it was a military advantage for the nation conducting the war, and today I am of the opinion that political reasons also may have influenced this decision, with the object of avoiding complications with neutral countries.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: How could complications with neutral countries come into being, in your opinion, if this naval warfare measure was a legal one?

DÖNITZ: During the first World War we had experienced what part is played by propaganda. Therefore I think it possible that our Government, our political leaders, for this reason, too, may have issued this order.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: From your own experience you know nothing about these political reasons?

DÖNITZ: Nothing at all.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Up to now you have spoken about the orders which were received by the U-boats, first for combating enemy ships, and secondly for combating or searching neutral ships. Were these orders then actually executed? That was primarily your responsibility, was it not?

DÖNITZ: No U-boat commander purposely transgressed an order, or failed to execute it. Of course, considering the large number of naval actions, which ran into several thousands within the 5½ years of war, a very few individual cases occurred in which, by mistake, such an order was not followed.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: How could such a mistake occur?

DÖNITZ: Every sailor knows how easily mistakes in identification can occur at sea; not only during a war, but also in peacetime, due to visibility, weather conditions, and other factors.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Is it also possible that submarines operated on the borders of the operational areas, although they were already outside these borders?

DÖNITZ: That is, of course, also possible. For again every sailor knows that after a few days of bad weather, for instance, inaccuracy in the ship’s course happens very easily. This occurs, however, not only in the case of the submarine, but also of the ship, which perhaps is under the impression of having been outside the operational area when torpedoed. It is very difficult to establish the fact in such cases.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What steps did you, as Commander of U-boats, take when you heard of such a case, a case in which a U-boat had transgressed its orders, even if by mistake?

DÖNITZ: The main thing was the preventive measures, and that was done through training them to be thorough and to investigate quietly and carefully before the commander took action. Moreover, this training had already been carried on in peacetime, so that our U-boat organization bore the motto: “We are a respectable firm.”

The second measure was that during the war every commander, before leaving port, and after returning from his mission, had to report to me personally. That is, before leaving port he had to be briefed by me.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I beg your pardon, Admiral. That did not continue when you were Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, did it?

DÖNITZ: That was limited after 1943, after I had become Commander-in-Chief. Even then it did continue. In any case, it was the definite rule during my time as Commander of U-boats, so that a commander’s mission was considered completed and satisfactory only after he had reported to me in full detail. If, on such an occasion, I could establish negligence, then I made my decision according to the nature of the case, as to whether disciplinary action or court-martial proceedings and punishment had to take place.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I have found here an entry GB-198, on Page 230, in Document Book 4 of the Prosecution, which I would like to read to you. This is a war diary of the Commander of U-boats, that is, yourself.

I read the entry of 25 September 1942:

“_U-512_ reports that the _Monte Corbea_ was recognized as a
neutral ship before being torpedoed. Assumed suspicions of being
a camouflaged English ship are insufficient and do not justify
the sinking. The commander will have to stand court-martial for
his conduct. All boats at sea will be informed.”

Two days later, on 27 September 1942, a radio signal was sent to all. I read:

“Radio signal to all:

“The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy has personally and expressly
ordered anew that all U-boat commanders are to comply exactly
with the orders concerning the treatment of neutral ships.
Violations of these orders will have incalculable political
consequences. This order is to be disseminated at once to all
commanders.”

Will you please tell me what resulted from the court-martial which you ordered here?

DÖNITZ: I had sent my radio signal to the commander stating that after his return he would have to be answerable before a court-martial, because of the sinking. The commander did not return from this mission with his boat. Therefore this court-martial did not take place.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did you, in any other case, have experience as to how the courts-martial treated the difficult task of the U-boat commanders when you had ordered a court-martial?

DÖNITZ: Yes. I remember a case against Kapitänleutnant Kraemer, who had to be acquitted by the court-martial because it was proven that, before the attack, before firing the shot, he had taken note once more through the periscope of the identification of the ship—it was a German blockade-runner—and, in spite of that, was of the opinion that it was a different ship, an enemy ship, and that he was justified in sinking it. In other words, it was not a case of negligence, and therefore in this case he was acquitted.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Taking into consideration all the results of your measures for training and punishing personnel, do you have the impression that enough was done to make the U-boat commanders obey your orders, or did the U-boat commanders in the long run disobey your orders?

DÖNITZ: I do not think it is necessary to discuss this question at all. The simple facts speak for themselves. During the 5½ years, several thousand naval actions were engaged in by submarines. The number of incidents is an extremely small fraction and I know that this result is only due to the unified leadership of all submarine commanders, to co-ordination and also to their proper training and their responsibility.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: The Prosecution has offered a document, GB-195 on Page 32 of the Prosecution’s document book. In this document is entered an order of the Führer, dated 18 July 1941, and it reads as follows:

“In the original operational area, which corresponds in extent
with the U.S. prohibited zone for U.S. ships and which is not
touched by the U.S.-Iceland route, attacks on ships under
American or British escort or U.S. merchantmen sailing without
escort are authorized.”

In connection with this order by the Führer, the Prosecution, Admiral, termed your attitude cynical and opportunistic. Will you please explain to the Tribunal what the meaning of this order actually is?

DÖNITZ: In August 1940 Germany had declared this operational area in English waters. U.S. ships were, however, expressly excluded from attack without warning in this operational area because, as I believe, the political leaders wanted to avoid any possibility of an incident with the U.S.A. I said the political leaders. The Prosecution has accused me, in my treatment and attitude, my differing attitude toward the neutrals, of having a masterful agility in adapting myself, that is guided by cynicism and opportunism. It is clear that the attitude of a state toward neutrals is a purely political affair, and that this relation is decided exclusively by the political leadership, particularly in a nation that is at war.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You mean to say, in other words, that you had nothing to do with the handling of this question?

DÖNITZ: As a soldier I had not the slightest influence on the question of how the political leadership believed they had to treat this or that neutral. Regarding this particular case, however, from knowledge of the orders I received through the Chief of the Naval Operations Staff from the political leadership, I should like to say the following: I believe that the political leadership did everything to avoid any incident on the high seas with the United States. First, I have already stated that the U-boats were actually forbidden even to stop American ships. Second...

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: One moment, Admiral. To stop them where, in the operational area or outside the operational area?

DÖNITZ: At first, everywhere.

Second, that the American 300-mile safety zone was recognized without any question by Germany, although according to the existing international law only a three-mile zone was authorized.

Third, that...

THE PRESIDENT: Dr. Kranzbühler, an interesting distinction which may be drawn between the United States and other neutrals is not relevant to this Trial, is it? What difference does it make?

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In connection with the document cited by me, GB-195, the Prosecution has made the accusation that Admiral Dönitz conducted his U-boat warfare cynically and opportunistically: that is, in that he treated one neutral well and the other one badly. This accusation has been made expressly, and I want to give Admiral Dönitz the opportunity to make a statement in reply to this accusation. He has already said that he had nothing to do with the handling of this question.

THE PRESIDENT: What more can he say than that?

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Mr. President, according to the principles of the Statute, a soldier is also made responsible for the orders which he executed. For this reason it is my opinion that he must be able to state whether on his side he had the impression that he received cynical and opportunistic orders or whether on the contrary he did not have the impression that everything was done to avoid a conflict and that the orders which were given actually were necessary and right.

THE PRESIDENT: You have dealt with this order about the United States ships, now.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, I have almost finished.

[_Turning to the defendant._] Did you want to say something more about the third point, Admiral?

DÖNITZ: I wanted to mention two or three more points on this subject.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I think that is possible.

THE PRESIDENT: You may go on, but we hope that you will deal with this point shortly. It appears to the Tribunal to be very unimportant.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes, Sir.

DÖNITZ: For instance, I had suggested that mines be laid before Halifax, the British port of Nova Scotia, and before Reykjavik, both bases being important for warships and merchant shipping. The political leaders, the Führer, rejected this because he wanted to avoid every possibility of friction with the United States.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: May I formulate the question this way, that you, from the orders for the treatment of U.S. ships, in no way had the impression that opportunism or cynicism prevailed here, but that everything was done with the greatest restraint in order to avoid a conflict with the United States?

DÖNITZ: Yes. This went so far, in fact, that when the American destroyers in the summer of 1941 received orders to attack German submarines, that is, before war started, when they were still neutral and I was forbidden to fight back, I was then forced to forbid the submarines in this area to attack even British destroyers, in order to avoid having a submarine mistake an American for a British ship.

THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn.

[_The Tribunal adjourned until 9 May 1946 at 1000 hours._]

ONE HUNDRED
AND TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
Thursday, 9 May 1946

_Morning Session_

[_The Defendant Dönitz resumed the stand._]

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: With the permission of the Tribunal, I will continue my examination of the witness.

[_Turning to the defendant._] Admiral, how many merchant ships were sunk by German U-boats in the course of the war?

DÖNITZ: According to the Allied figures, 2,472.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: How many combat actions, according to your estimate, were necessary to do this?

DÖNITZ: I believe the torpedoed ships are not included in this figure of 2,472 sunk ships; and, of course, not every attack leads to a success. I would estimate that in 5½ years perhaps 5,000 or 6,000 actions actually took place.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In the course of all these actions did any of the U-boat commanders who were subordinate to you voice objections to the manner in which the U-boats operated?

DÖNITZ: No, never.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What would you have done with a commander who refused to carry out the instructions for U-boat warfare?

DÖNITZ: First, I would have had him examined; if he proved to be normal I would have put him before a court-martial.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You could only have done that with a clear conscience if you yourself assumed full responsibility for the orders which you either issued or which you transmitted?

DÖNITZ: Naturally.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In battle engagements with U-boats, crews of merchant ships no doubt lost their lives. Did you consider crews of enemy merchantmen as soldiers or as civilians, and for what reasons?

DÖNITZ: Germany considered the crews of merchantmen as combatants, because they fought with the weapons which had been mounted aboard the merchant ships in large numbers. According to our knowledge one or two men of the Royal Navy were on board for the servicing of these weapons, but where guns were concerned the rest of the gunners were part of the crew of the ship.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: How many were there for one gun?

DÖNITZ: That varied according to the size of the weapon, probably between five and ten. Then, in addition, there were munitions men. The same applied to the servicing of depth charge chutes and depth charge throwers.

The members of the crew did, in fact, fight with the weapons like the few soldiers who were on board. It was also a matter of course that the crew was considered as a unit, for in a battleship we cannot distinguish either between the man who is down at the engine in the boiler room and the man who services the gun up on deck.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did this view, that the members of the crews of hostile merchant ships were combatants, have any influence on the question of whether they could or should be rescued? Or did it not have any influence?

DÖNITZ: No, in no way. Of course, every soldier has a right to be rescued if the circumstances of his opponent permit it. But this fact should have an influence upon the right to attack the crew as well.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Do you mean that they could be fought as long as they were on board the ship?

DÖNITZ: Yes, there can be no question of anything else—that means fought with weapons used for an attack against a ship as part of naval warfare.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You know that the Prosecution has submitted a document about a discussion between Adolf Hitler and the Japanese Ambassador, Oshima. This discussion took place on 3 January 1942. It is Exhibit Number GB-197, on Page 34 of the document book of the Prosecution. In this document Hitler promises the Japanese Ambassador that he will issue an order for the killing of the shipwrecked, and the Prosecution concludes from this document that Hitler actually gave such an order and that this order was carried out by you.

Did you, directly or through the Naval Operations Staff, receive a written order of this nature?

DÖNITZ: I first heard about this discussion and its contents when the record of it was submitted here.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, may I ask you to answer my question? I asked, did you receive a written order?

DÖNITZ: No, I received neither a written nor a verbal order. I knew nothing at all about this discussion; I learned about it through the document which I saw here.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: When did you see Hitler for the first time after the date of this discussion, that is, January 1942?

DÖNITZ: Together with Grossadmiral Raeder I was at headquarters on 14 May 1942 and told him about the situation in the U-boat campaign.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: There is a note written by you about this discussion with the Führer, and I would like to call your attention to it. It is Dönitz-16, to be found on Page 29 of Document Book Number 1. I submit the document, Dönitz-16. I will read it to you. The heading runs:

“Report of the Commander of Submarines to the Führer on 14 May
1942 in the presence of the Commander-in-Chief of the
Navy”—that is, Grossadmiral Raeder.

“Therefore it is necessary to improve the weapons of the
submarines by all possible means, so that the submarines may
keep pace with defense measures. The most important development
is the torpedo with magnetic detonator which would increase
precision of torpedoes fired against destroyers and therefore
would put the submarine in a better position with regard to
defense; it would above all also hasten considerably the sinking
of torpedoed ships, whereby we would economize on torpedoes and
also protect the submarine from countermeasures, insofar as it
would be able to leave the place of combat more quickly.”

And now, the decisive sentence:

“A magnetic detonator will also have the great advantage that
the crew will not be able to save themselves on account of the
quick sinking of the torpedoed ship. This greater loss of men
will no doubt cause difficulties in the assignment of crews for
the great American construction program.”

Does this last sentence which I read imply what you just referred to as combating the crew with weapons...?

THE PRESIDENT: You seem to attach importance to this document. Therefore, you should not put a leading question upon it. You should ask the defendant what the document means, and not put your meaning on it.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, what did these expositions mean?

DÖNITZ: They mean that it was important to us, as a consequence of the discussion with the Führer at his headquarters, to find a good magnetic detonator which would lead to a more rapid sinking of the ships and thereby achieve the results noted in this report in the war diary.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Can you tell me what successes you mean by this, as far as the crews are concerned?

DÖNITZ: I mean that not several torpedoes would be required, as heretofore, to sink a ship by long and difficult attack; but that one torpedo, or very few, would suffice to bring about a more speedy loss of the ship and the crew.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did you, in the course of this discussion with the Führer, touch on the question...

DÖNITZ: Yes.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: One moment—the question whether other means might be envisaged to cause loss of life among the crews?

DÖNITZ: Yes.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In what way and by whom?

DÖNITZ: The Führer brought up the fact that, in the light of experience, a large percentage of the crews, because of the excellence of the rescue means, were reaching home and were used again and again to man new ships, and he asked whether there might not be some action taken against these rescue ships.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What do you mean by action taken?

DÖNITZ: At this discussion, in which Grossadmiral Raeder participated, I rejected this unequivocally and told him that the only possibility of causing losses among the crews would lie in the attack itself, in striving for a faster sinking of the ship through the intensified effect of weapons. Hence this remark in my war diary. I believe, since I received knowledge here through the Prosecution of the discussion between the Führer and Oshima, that this question of the Führer to Grossadmiral Raeder and myself arose out of this discussion.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: There exists an affidavit by Grossadmiral Raeder about this discussion. You know the contents. Do the contents correspond to your recollection of this discussion?

DÖNITZ: Yes, completely.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Then I would like to submit to the Tribunal, as Dönitz-17, the affidavit of Grossadmiral Raeder; since it has the same content, I may dispense with the reading of it.

SIR DAVID MAXWELL-FYFE: I was going to say in case it might help the Tribunal, I understand the Defendant Raeder will be going into the witness box; therefore, I make no formal objection to this affidavit going in.

THE PRESIDENT: Very well.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: It has the Number Dönitz-17 and is found on Page 33 of Document Book 1.

[_Turning to the defendant._] You just said that you rejected the suggested killing of survivors in lifeboats and stated this to the Führer. However, the Prosecution has presented two documents, an order of the winter of 1939-40 and a second order of the autumn of 1942, in which you limited or prohibited rescue measures. Is there not a contradiction between the orders and your attitude toward the proposal of the Führer?

DÖNITZ: No. These two things are not connected with each other in any way. One must distinguish very clearly here between the question of rescue or nonrescue, and that is a question of military possibility. During a war the necessity of refraining from rescue may well arise. For example, if your own ship is endangered thereby, it would be wrong from a military viewpoint and besides, would not be of value for the one to be rescued; and no commander of any nation is expected to rescue if his own ship is thereby endangered.

The British Navy correctly take up a very clear, unequivocal position in this respect: that rescue is to be denied in such cases; and that is evident also from their actions and commands. That is one point.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, you spoke only about the safety of the ship as a reason for not carrying out rescue.

DÖNITZ: There may of course be other reasons. For instance it is clear that in war the mission to be accomplished is of first importance. No one will start to rescue, for example, if after subduing one opponent there is another on the scene. Then, as a matter of course, the combating of the second opponent is more important than the rescue of those who have already lost their ship.

The other question is concerned with attacking the shipwrecked, and that is...

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, whom would you call shipwrecked?

DÖNITZ: Shipwrecked persons are members of the crew who, after the sinking of their ship, are not able to fight any longer and are either in lifeboats or other means of rescue or in the water.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Yes.

DÖNITZ: Firing upon these men is a matter concerned with the ethics of war and should be rejected under any and all circumstances. In the German Navy and U-boat force this principle, according to my firm conviction, has never been violated, with the one exception of the affair Eck. No order on this subject has ever been issued, in any form whatsoever.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: I want to call to your attention one of the orders submitted by the Prosecution. It is your permanent War Order Number 154; Exhibit Number GB-196 and in my document book on Pages 13 to 15. I will have this order given to you, and I am asking you to turn to the last paragraph, which was read by the Prosecution. There it says, I read it again:

“Do not rescue any men; do not take them along; and do not take
care of any boats of the ship. Weather conditions and proximity
of land are of no consequence. Concern yourself only with the
safety of your own boat and with efforts to achieve additional
successes as soon as possible. We must be hard in this war. The
enemy started the war in order to destroy us, and thus nothing
else matters.”

The Prosecution has stated that this order went out, according to their records, before May 1940. Can you from your knowledge fix the date a little more exactly?

DÖNITZ: According to my recollection, I issued this order at the end of November or the beginning of December 1939, for the following reasons:

I had only a handful of U-boats a month at my disposal. In order that this small force might prove effective at all, I had to send the boats close to the English coast, in front of the ports. In addition, the magnetic mine showed itself to be a very valuable weapon of war. Therefore, I equipped these boats both with mines and torpedoes and directed them, after laying the mines, to operate in waters close to the coast, immediately outside the ports. There they fought in constant and close combat and under the surveillance of naval and air patrols. Each U-boat which was sighted or reported there was hunted by U-boat-chasing units and by air patrols ordered to the scene.

The U-boats themselves, almost without exception or entirely, had as their objectives only ships which were protected or accompanied by some form of protection. Therefore, it would have been suicide for the U-boat, in a position of that sort, to come to the surface and to rescue.

The commanders were all very young; I was the only one who had service experience from the first World War. And I had to tell them this very forcibly and drastically because it was hard for a young commander to judge a situation as well as I could.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did experience with rescue measures already play a part here?

DÖNITZ: Yes. In the first months of the war I had very bitter experiences. I suffered very great losses in sea areas far removed from any coast; and as very soon I had information through the Geneva Red Cross that many members of crews had been rescued, it was clear that these U-boats had been lost above the water. If they had been lost below the water the survival of so many members of the crews would have been impossible. I also had reports that there had been very unselfish deeds of rescue, quite justifiable from a humane angle, but militarily very dangerous for the U-boat. So now, of course, since I did not want to fight on the open sea but close to the harbors or in the coastal approaches to the harbors, I had to warn the U-boats of the great dangers, in fact of suicide.

And, to state a parallel, English U-boats in the Jutland waters, areas which we dominated, showed, as a matter of course and quite correctly, no concern at all for those who were shipwrecked, even though, without a doubt, our defense was only a fraction of the British.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You say that this order applied to U-boats which operated in the immediate presence of the enemy’s defense. Can you, from the order itself, demonstrate the truth of that?

DÖNITZ: Yes; the entire order deals only with, or assumes, the presence of the enemy’s defense; it deals with the battle against convoys. For instance it reads, “Close range is also the best security for the boat...”

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: What number are you reading?

DÖNITZ: Well, the order is formulated in such a way that Number 1 deals at first with sailing, not with combat. But the warning against enemy air defense is given there also, and in this warning about countermeasures it is made clear that it is concerned entirely with outgoing ships. Otherwise I would obviously not have issued an order concerning sailing. Number 2 deals with the time prior to the attack. Here mention is made of moral inhibitions which every soldier has to overcome before an attack.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, you need only refer to the figures which show that the order is concerned with fighting enemy defense.

DÖNITZ: Very well. Then I will quote from 2(d). It says there:

“Close range is also the best security for the boat.

“While in the vicinity of the vessels”—that is, the
merchantmen—“the protecting ships”—that is, the
destroyers—“will at first not fire any depth charges. If one
fires into a convoy from close quarters”—note that we are
dealing with convoys—“and then is compelled to submerge, one
can then dive most quickly below other ships of the convoy and
thus remain safe from depth charges.”

Then the next paragraph, which deals with night conditions, says:

“Stay above water. Withdraw above water. Possibly make a circle
and go around at the rear.”

Every sailor knows that one makes a circle or goes around at the rear of the protecting enemy ships. Further, in the third paragraph, I caution against submerging too soon, because it blinds the U-boat, and I say:

“Only then does the opportunity offer itself for a new attack,
or for spotting and noting the opening through which one can
shake off the pursuing enemy.”

Then the figure “(c),” that is, “3(c),” and there it says:

“During an attack on a convoy one may have to submerge to a
depth of 20 meters to escape from patrols or aircraft and to
avoid the danger of being sighted or rammed....”

Thus we are talking here about a convoy. Now we turn to point “(d)” and here it says:

“It may become necessary to submerge to depth when, for example,
the destroyer is proceeding directly toward the periscope...”

And then follow instructions on how to act in case of a depth charge attack. Plainly, the whole order deals with...

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t think it is necessary to go into all of these military tactics. He has made a point on Paragraph “e.” He has given his explanation of that paragraph, and I don’t think it is necessary to go into all of these other tactics.

DÖNITZ: I only want to say that the last paragraph about nonrescue must not be considered alone but in this context: First, the U-boats had to fight in the presence of enemy defense near the English ports and estuaries; and secondly, the objectives were ships in convoys, or protected ships, as is shown clearly from the document as a whole.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: You said that this order was given about December 1939. Did the German U-boats after the order had been issued actually continue rescues? What experiences did you have?

DÖNITZ: I said that the order was issued for this specific purpose during the winter months. For the U-boats which, according to my memory, went out into the Atlantic again only after the Norwegian campaign, for these U-boats the general order of rescue applied; and this order was qualified only in one way, namely that no rescue was to be attempted if the safety of a U-boat did not permit it. The facts show that the U-boats acted in this light.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Do you mean then that you had reports from U-boat commanders about rescue measures?

DÖNITZ: I received these reports whenever a U-boat returned, and subsequently through the combat log books.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: When was this order which we have just discussed formally rescinded?

DÖNITZ: To my knowledge this order was captured or salvaged by England on the U-13 which was destroyed by depth charges in very shallow water in the Downs near the mouth of the Thames. For this boat, of course, this order may still have applied in May 1940. Then in the year 1940, after the Norway Campaign, I again made the open waters of the Atlantic the central field of operations, and for these boats this order did not apply, as is proved by the fact that rescues took place, which I just explained.

I then rescinded the order completely for it contained the first practical instructions on how U-boats were to act toward a convoy and later on was no longer necessary, for by then it had become second nature to the U-boat commanders. To my recollection the order was completely withdrawn in November 1940 at the latest.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Admiral, I have here the table of contents of the “Standing War Orders of 1942,” and that may be found on Page 16 of Document Book Number 1. I will submit it as Dönitz-11. In this table of contents the Number 154 which deals with the order we have just discussed is blank. Does that mean that this order did not exist any more at the time when the “Standing War Orders of 1942” were issued?

DÖNITZ: Yes, by then it had long since ceased to exist.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: When were the standing orders for the year 1942 compiled?

DÖNITZ: In the course of the year 1941.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: When you received reports from commanders about rescue measures, did you object to these measures? Did you criticize or prohibit them?

DÖNITZ: No, not as a rule; only if subsequently my anxiety was too great. For example, I had a report from a commander that, because he had remained too long with the lifeboats and thus had been pursued by the escorts perhaps—or probably—summoned by wireless, his boat had been severely attacked by depth charges and had been badly damaged by the escorts—something which would not have happened if he had left the scene in time—then naturally I pointed out to him that his action had been wrong from a military point of view. I am also convinced that I lost ships through rescue. Of course I cannot prove that, since the boats are lost. But such is the whole mentality of the commander; and it is entirely natural, for every sailor retains from the days of peace the view that rescue is the noblest and most honorable act he can perform. And I believe there was no officer in the German Navy—it is no doubt true of all the other nations—who, for example, would not consider a medal for rescue, rescue at personal risk, as the highest peacetime decoration. In view of this basic attitude it is always very dangerous not to change to a wartime perspective and to the principle that the security of one’s own ship comes first, and that war is after all a serious thing.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In what years was the practice you have just described followed, that U-boats did not rescue when they endangered themselves?

DÖNITZ: In 1940, that is towards the end of 1939, economic warfare was governed by the Prize Ordinance insofar as U-boats were still operating individually. Then came the operations, close to the enemy coast, of 1939-40 which I have described; the order Number 154 applied to these operations. Then came the Norway campaign, and then when the U-boat war resumed in the spring of 1940, this order of rescue, or nonrescue if the U-boat itself was endangered, applied in the years 1940, 1941, and 1942 until autumn.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Was this order put in writing?

DÖNITZ: No, it was not necessary, for the general order about rescue was a matter of course, and besides it was contained in certain orders of the Naval Operations Staff at the beginning of the war. The stipulation of nonrescue, if the safety of the submarine is at stake, is taken for granted in every navy; and I made a special point of that in my reports on the cases which I have just discussed.

FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In June of 1942 there was an order about the rescue of captains. This has the Number Dönitz-22; I beg your pardon—it is Dönitz Number 23, and is found on Page 45 of Document Book 1, and I hereby submit it. It is an extract from the War Diary of the Naval Operations Staff of 5 June 1942. I quote:

“According to instructions received from the Naval Operations
Staff submarines are ordered by the Commander of U-boats to take
on board as prisoners captains of ships sunk, with their papers,
if this is possible without endangering the boat and without
impairing fighting capacity.”

How did this order come into being?