German admiral. Born 1876, died 1960.
Raeder was head of the German Navy's general staff from 1928 and was made a grand admiral in 1939. After overseeing the drastic expansion of the German Navy in the 1930s, Raeder played a significant part in the military activities of the first years of World War II. Among other things, he was in charge of Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway in 1940. Following a disagreement with Hitler, Raeder was replaced in 1943 by Admiral Karl Dönitz.
At the Nuremberg trials, in 1946, Raeder was sentenced to life in prison for war crimes, but he was pardoned in 1955.