Raeder, Erich

Raeder, Erich

(ā`rĭkh rā`dər), 1876–1960, German admiral. As chief of staff to Admiral Franz von Hipper in World War I, he took part in the battles of Dogger Bank (1915) and Jutland (1916). Appointed (1928) commander of the German navy, Raeder secretly rebuilt the navy in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. He disagreed with Adolf Hitler on war strategy, and in 1943 Admiral Karl Doenitz succeeded him in command. Raeder was sentenced (1945) to life imprisonment as a war criminal but was released in 1955. His memoirs were published in 1957 (tr. 1960).

Raeder, Erich

 

Born Apr. 24, 1876, in Wandsbek, near Hamburg; died Nov. 6, 1960, in Kiel. Naval officer in fascist Germany, admiral of the fleet (1939).

Raeder joined the navy in 1894. During World War I he took command of a cruiser in 1917. He was chief of the naval staff from 1928 and commander in chief of the navy from 1935 to 1943. Raeder advocated the creation of a powerful navy and the conduct of unlimited submarine warfare. He urged that Great Britain be totally defeated before beginning the aggression against the USSR. Raeder retired in 1943. In 1946 he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Nuremberg International Tribunal. He was released in 1955.

WORKS

Der Kreuzerkrieg in den ausländischen Gewässern, vols. 1–3. Berlin, 1922–27.
Mein Leben, vols. 1–2. Tübingen, 1956–57.