The Last Year of the Kriegsmarine: May 1944 - May 1945

The German navy, the Kreigsmarine, seemed destined to join with the air and land forces of the Third Reich to bring Hitler to victory in World War II. This book shows how this previously all-conquering navy was unable to deploy its new vessels and strategies in the last year of the war. Blockaded in its ports, picked off by superior enemy forces when it sailed, it was unable to use its new vessels and weaponry, utilize fresh tactics or bring on new officers. Its technological advances were never tested and its young leaders never confronted the enemy. This story of disillusionment and unfulfilled ambition is told here, using diaries and archives to explain how the German navy had to succumb to defeat.