Erich Johann Albert Raeder

Erich Raeder was a German naval officer who played a major role in the naval history of World War II, and was convicted of war crimes after the war. He joined the Imperial Navy in 1894 and rose rapidly in rank, becoming chief of staff for Franz von Hipper in 1912. He participated in several naval engagements during World War I, such as the Battle of Jutland and the Battle of Dogger Bank. After the war, he became the head of the Reichsmarine, the navy of the Weimar Republic, and later the Kriegsmarine, the navy of Nazi Germany. He supported Adolf Hitler's ambitions to restore Germany as a great power and to challenge the British naval supremacy. He oversaw the construction of a large surface fleet, including battleships, cruisers and aircraft carriers, as well as a submarine force. He also planned and executed several naval operations during World War II, such as the invasion of Norway, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the commerce raiding in the Atlantic. However, he also faced several setbacks and failures, such as the loss of the Bismarck, the Battle of the Barents Sea, and the increasing effectiveness of the Allied anti-submarine warfare. He resigned in January 1943 after a heated argument with Hitler over the future strategy of the navy. He was replaced by Karl Dönitz, who favored a submarine-based warfare. Raeder was arrested after the war and tried at the Nuremberg trials for crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released in 1955 due to ill health and died in 1960 in Kiel. He wrote his autobiography, My Life, in 1957.