Erhard Maertens
Erhard Maertens or Eberhard Maertens (26 February 1891 – 5 May 1945) was a German Vizeadmiral of the Kriegsmarine during World War II. From 16 June 1941 to 5 May 1943, he was Chief of Office of Naval Intelligence, Naval War Command () in the Oberkommando der Marine. Maertens was known for underestimating British intelligence, and specifically, overrating the security of the Naval Enigma cipher machine. In 1941, he held a naval enquiry into the strength of Naval Enigma security after the capture of U-boat U-570, and attributed all the suspicious losses in U-boats at the time to the British Huff-Duff. In the second enquiry, ordered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy () Karl Dönitz, in May 1943, he investigated a number of areas, which exculpated Enigma security in the end, for the second time, incorrectly blaming British 9.7 centimetre centimetric radar for the massive losses in U-boats by mid 1943. Naval career On 1 April 1910, Maertens joined the Imperial German Navy as a Seekadett and had basic training on the heavy cruiser until 31 March 1911. He was promoted to an officer candidate rank () and sent to the German Imperial Naval Academy Naval Academy Mürwik for Naval