Operation Regenbogen (U-boat)

He had appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

Of its capital ships only the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen survived, sheltering at Copenhagen; only the U-boat Arm was capable of continuing the fight.

However, as the new German leader, he was keen to extricate Germany from the war and, if possible, avoid Allied, particularly Soviet, retribution.

As the Allies closed in on the North German ports the Kriegsmarine started to destroy what was left to prevent its capture, while all serviceable boats were ordered to bases in Norway.

On 1 May 1945, 3 U-boats were wrecked at Warnemünde, outside Rostock on the Baltic coast, the first of a wave of scuttling boats and destroying facilities.

On 3 May, Dönitz sent his chief aide von Friedeburg to Montgomery at Lüneburg to open negotiations for an armistice with the western allies.

52 boats were surrendered at sea, either on patrol or in transit, and 98 in port, mostly in Norway and at bases in Germany, Denmark and France.

Most sources[7] give a number of U–boats scuttled at the end of the war, and describe the Regenbogen order, conflating the two.

To take Cremer's case in point, Neistle lists U-2519 as being scuttled on 3 May at Kiel,[9] before the surrender negotiations were complete, and at least 24 hours before the Regenbogen order was given.

But he also states the scuttle began on 5 May, while Neistle is clear it started 4 days earlier, at beginning of the month.