Raeder, the political admiral, stealthily built up the German Navy in defiance of the Versailles Treaty, and then put it to use in a series of aggressions which he had taken a leading part in planning.
Navy Commander Erich Raeder was more concerned with enhancing the navy's position in the new Reich than with contributing to a rational grand strategy. His limited vision fitted nicely into Hitler's dreams of world empire.
Johannes Steinhoff (1994)
An irritable old man with a practical, unimaginative mentality, but academically intelligent.
G. M. Gilbert
The Athenia sinking — when I broadcast that this was done not by our U-boats but by the British, I had Raeder's word for it. It was Raeder's fault. He knew and Hitler knew it was a German submarine.