Now that the rocks have stopped flying us little fellers can stick their heads back out....

LH, I think I may have an idea as to why Hitler declared on the U.S. The only way he could defeat Britain was to blockade it - starve it of precious war materials. As long as the US was technically a neutral it could sail needed supplies to the island. By declaring war Hitler allowed his U-Boats full range over the Atlantic. I think, and this is pure conjecture, that it was his belief that Doenitz could sink more American supply ships, and more importantly, more escort vessels, faster than they could be replaced. However, the longer he waited he knew that the US would be ramping up its ship building capacity to fight the war in the Pacific. It was a matter of timing. He felt like he had to engage the US in a two ocean war when it barely had a one ocean fleet.

It almost worked. The defeat of the U-Boats was never a forgone conclusion, and in Churchill's own words they were the threat that concerned him the most. The only problem was that Hitler had not given Doenitz the number of U-Boats that he wanted or needed. Therefore, Doenitz was stretched too thin to effectively shut the Atlantic coastline down. Two developments then overcame the U-Boat menace - the incredible might of the American shipbuilding capacity and the technological refinement of the ASDIC anti-submarine device and maybe more important, Radar.

Granted, this was a move of pure hubris by Hitler, but I am somewhat of a U-Boat history buff and I think Doenitz could have won the war for Hitler had he been given the number of U-Boats that he wanted. One only has to review the tonnage that the wolfpacks sank in 1941, 1942 and the first six months of 1943 to realize just how close Doenitz came. Thankfully for the US and Britain, Hitler was more interested in flashy big battleships (the Bismarck and the Tirpitz) By the time Doenitz got through to Hitler the Allies had turned the tide against him and his boats were the hunted instead of the hunters.

Rabbi Sol, I do appreciate your posts. You have been one voice of reason in this thread. However, a question. Would you rate Hitler's pogrom of greater violence than, say, Antiochus Epiphanes? I am not Jewish, so please I mean no animosity. I just see Hitler as another in a long disgusting line of animals who have tried to eliminate the people of your faith. Your collective will to survive and overcome is of great value to me.

Freightdawg