Do you know that
by Ernst Schmidt (10-+-1983)

• Oberleutnant zur See Karl Dönitz was commander of UB-68 in the Mediterranean and on 4 October 1918 while attacking a British convoy, he was sunk and taken prisoner, held at Malta? Beginning in 1935, he was responsible for rebuilding the U-Bootwaffe of the new Navy (the Kriegsmarine), became Großadmiral (Admiral of the Fleet) and eventually succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of Germany.
• in World War II, German U-boats sank 2,979 merchant ships with a total of more than 14.36 million tons – and in addition, 184 Allied naval ships?
• Germany built 1,162 U-boats in World War II of which 863 became operational; and they lost 784 boats in the war?
• In September 1939 (the beginning of WW II) Germany had only 56 U-Boats and most of them were training boats – and only 22 were suitable for operations in the Atlantic?
• the British merchant navy alone lost more than 30,938 men to the German U-boats?