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Regenbogen ("Rainbow") was the code name for the planned mass scuttling of the German U-boat fleet, to avoid surrender, at the end of World War II. ==Background== At the beginning of May 1945 Nazi Germany was collapsing under the Allied onslaught. The Soviets had captured Berlin, and on 30 April Hitler had committed suicide. He had appointed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz as Head of State and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. US Forces from the west and Soviet forces from the east had already met at Torgau, cutting the Reich in two, while in the north 21st Army Group was poised to capture Hamburg and the other German ports. The state of the German navy, the ''Kriegsmarine'', was no better. Of its capital ships only survived, sheltering at Copenhagen; only the U-Boat Arm was capable of continuing the fight. The ''Kriegsmarine'' had approximately 470 U-boats remaining. Some 170 of these were operational U-boats (''Front'' boats), based mainly in occupied Norway, and another 200 home-based boats in various stages of building, commissioning and working up; these were mainly in the north German ports and on the Baltic. As head of the ''Kriegsmarine'', and as commander of the U-boat arm, Dönitz was keen that his U-boat force should not be surrendered. However, as the new German leader, he was keen to extricate Germany from the war and, if possible, avoid Allied, particularly Soviet, retribution. To that end he had opened negotiations with the western Allies, through Field Marshal Montgomery commander of Allied 21 Army Group, in North Germany. As the Allies closed in on the North German ports the ''Kriegsmarine'' started to destroy what was left to prevent its capture, while all servicable boats were ordered to bases in Norway. During May a final massacre of U-boats fleeing to Norway took place; 23 U-boats were destroyed or damaged beyond repair in transit in the first week of May. Against this backdrop, Dönitz and the U-boat arm made plans for a mass scuttle of his U-boats, to be carried out on receiving the code-word "Regenbogen". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Regenbogen (U-boat)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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