Reichspr�sident Karl D�nitz, sometimes in English spelt Doenitz, was a German naval commander and convicted war criminal who played a major role in the Naval history of World War II. He started his career in the Imperial German Navy before World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of UB-68, the submarine was sunk by British forces and D�nitz was taken prisoner. While in a prisoner of war camp, he formulated what he later called Rudeltaktik. At the start of World War II, he was the senior submarine officer in the Kriegsmarine. In January 1943, D�nitz achieved the rank of Gro�admiral and replaced Grand Admiral Erich Raeder as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. On 30 April 1945, after the death of Adolf Hitler and in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, D�nitz was named Hitler's successor as Staatsoberhaupt, with the title of Reichspr�sident and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. On 7 May 1945, he ordered Generaloberst Alfred Jodl to sign the German instruments of surrender in Rheims, France. Gro�admiral D�nitz remained as head of the Flensburg Government, as it became known, until it was dissolved by the Allied powers on 23 May. 

September 16th, 1891 in Grünau  /  Died:   Dec 24th, 1980