I thought the scene that discussed the messages from Grand Admiral Karl Donitz and Kapitanleutnant Gunter Bischoff was hilarious. Bischoff's messages were funny, but it was the Admiral's responses that were the most interesting:

"Nice work, Bischoff! You get another medal. Don't worry about the Enigma, it's fantastic!"

"Superb, another medal for you!"

"You are a hero of the Reich and the Fuhrer himself has been informed of your brilliant success!"

"You are now officially the greatest U-boat commander of all time" (391).

So. All of this lavish praise, besides being hilarious, got me to thinking about the military and its structure. I couldn't figure out if this was sincere praise or sarcasm, or something in between. Earlier, it did say that "Donitz has a soft spot for U-boats and the men who inhabit them" (390), so maybe it was sincere. Or perhaps it was a sort of morale-boosting exercise? What do you guys think?