FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: In which manner were the preparations of the High Command of the Navy for a possible war carried out?
WAGNER: Generally speaking, they consisted of mobilization preparations, tactical training, and strategic considerations for the event of a possible conflict.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did the Naval Operations Staff during your time receive an order to prepare for a definite possibility of war?
WAGNER: The first instance was the order for “Case White,” the war against Poland. Before that, only tasks regarding security measures were given us.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Were plans elaborated for the naval war against England?
WAGNER: A plan for the war against England did not exist at all before the beginning of the war. Such a war seemed to us outside the realm of possibility. Considering the overwhelming superiority of the British fleet, which can hardly be expressed in proportionate figures, and considering England’s strategical domination of the seas such a war appeared to us to be absolutely hopeless. The only means by which Britain could have been damaged effectively was by submarine warfare; but even the submarine weapon was by no means being given preferential treatment nor was its production accelerated. It was merely given its corresponding place in the creation of a well-balanced homogeneous fleet.
At the beginning of the war all we had were 40 submarines ready for action, of which, as far as I can remember, barely half could have been used in the Atlantic. That, in comparison with the earth-girdling naval means at the disposal of the first-ranking world power England, is as good as nothing. As a comparison, I should like to cite the fact that both the British and the French Navy at the same time had more than 100 submarines each.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did the then Captain Dönitz, as chief of the submarines, have anything to do with the planning of the war?
WAGNER: Captain Dönitz at that time was a subordinate front-line commander, under the command of the chief of the fleet and he, because of his warfare experience, had the task of training and tactically guiding the inexperienced submarine personnel.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Did he in turn make any suggestions or instigate any plans for the war?