On 5 December 1942, "Graf Zeppelin" was towed back to Kiel and placed in a floating drydock. It seemed she might well see completion after all, but by late January 1943 Hitler had become so disenchanted with the "Kriegsmarine", especially with what he perceived as the poor performance of its surface fleet, that he ordered all of its larger ships taken out of service and scrapped. Raeder was shortly relieved of command and replaced with the Commander of Submarines Karl Dönitz. Though Admiral Dönitz eventually persuaded Hitler to void most of the order, work on all new surface ships and even those nearing completion, including "Graf Zeppelin", was halted. On 30 January 1943, all major work on the ship ceased, though some limited, temporary work continued until March.