Tonnage war
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A tonnage war is a military strategy aimed at merchant shipping. The premise is that the enemy has a finite number of ships and a finite capacity to build replacements. The concept was made famous by German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, who wrote:"The shipping of the enemy powers is one great whole. It is therefore in this connection immaterial where a ship is sunk—it must still in the final analysis be replaced by a new ship".
An Allied tanker after being torpedoed during the Battle of the Atlantic, 1942
Karl Dönitz
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Karl Dönitz was a German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Government following Germany's unconditional surrender to the Allies days later. As Supreme Commander of the Navy beginning in 1943, he played a major role in the naval history of World War II.
Dönitz as Grand Admiral in 1943
Oberleutnant zur See Karl Dönitz as Watch Officer of U-39 during World War I
Karl Dönitz' sons both died in World War II: Lieutenant Peter Dönitz on May 19, 1943, as a watch officer on the U 954, Oberleutnant Klaus Dönitz on May 13, 1944, on the S 141 speedboat.
Dönitz observing the arrival of U-94 at St Nazaire in France in June 1941