# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/karl-donitz
# Generated: 2026-09-01T01:18:13.955Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/karl-donitz"
name: "Karl Dönitz"
slug: "karl-donitz"
description: "He commanded Germany's U-boat fleet through the Battle of the Atlantic, sending 30,000 of his own submariners to their deaths, then spent three weeks as Hitler's handpicked successor before the Allies dissolved his government and sent him to Nuremberg."
tagline: "German admiral and former president of Nazi Germany in 1945 (born 1891-1980)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Karl_D%C3%B6nitz.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "Germany"
  isoCode: "DE"
category:
  name: "Politicians"
  slug: "politicians"
profileType:
  name: "Politician"
  slug: "politician"
birthDate: "1891-09-16"
deathDate: "1980-12-24"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           64.17
  momentum:             0
  historical:           30.396012
  currentAttention:     9.472222222222223
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  75
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
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    slug: "historical-figures"
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    slug: "politician"
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  - name: "Germany"
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  - name: "Europe"
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  - name: "20th Century"
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platforms:
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    handle:    "nm0246872"
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    title: "کارل دونیتس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Karl Dönitz began as an Imperial German Navy officer, was captured commanding UB-68 in 1918 after sinking a convoy ship near Malta, and spent his captivity developing the wolfpack doctrine that would define submarine warfare. By 1939 he commanded the Kriegsmarine's U-boat arm; in January 1943 he became grand admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. His submarines fought effectively until May 1943, when they lost the initiative, yet he kept ordering them out until 1945—648 boats lost, 215 on their first patrol, 429 with no survivors. On 30 April 1945, Hitler's will named him head of state; Dönitz held the position for three weeks, ordering the surrender on 7 May before the Allies dissolved his Flensburg Government on 23 May. A self-admitted dedicated Nazi, he was convicted at Nuremberg of crimes against peace and crimes against the laws of war, served ten years, and died near Hamburg in December 1980.