Erich Raeder

Erich Raeder (1876-1960), German admiral, born in Wandsbek, Schleswig-Holstein. Raeder entered the imperial navy in 1894 and from 1912 until 1918 was chief of staff to Admiral Franz von Hipper. He was with the German battle cruisers that bombarded British east coast cities in 1914 and attained the rank of admiral to become head of the German naval command in 1928. In 1935 Raeder became commander in chief of the navy, a post he held until 1943, when he was succeeded by Admiral Karl Doenitz. Adolf Hitler created the title of admiral general for Raeder in 1936. Raeder sent German warships to assist the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and also commanded the shelling of Almería in 1937. Raeder was a member of the German Secret Cabinet Council from 1938 until 1943. In 1939, at the beginning of World War II (1939-1945), he became the first grand admiral since Alfred von Tirpitz and was made inspector general of the navy in 1943. Indicted as a major war criminal at the end of World War II, Raeder was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Military Tribunal at Nürnberg in October 1946, but he was released in 1953 because of poor health (see War Crimes Trials).