At 41,700 tons, it was considered the most powerful warship in the world. Soon afterwards the Bismarck was completed. German shipyards had difficulty producing the ships ordered by Hitler and on the outbreak of the Second World War the German Navy only had two battleships, two battlecruisers, three armoured cruisers, three heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, 22 destroyers and 59 submarines. Doenitz said that he needed 1,000 submarines to win any future war with Britain but by 1939 he had only 57. However he clashed with Hermann Goering who was unwilling to supply the necessary capital to spend on the navy.
In 1935 Karl Doenitz was put in charge of the new U-Boats being developed.
The main emphasis was placed on the building of submarines and fast surface squadrons in order to be able to control Britain's vital trade supply lines. When Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933 he implemented Plan Z, a ten year programme to develop a fleet capable of challenging the Royal Navy. However, under the terms of the Versailles Treaty in 1919, the German government was restricted to vessels under 10,000 tons, forbidden to own submarines and allowed only 1,500 officers. By the end of the First World War the German Navy was one of the largest in the world.
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