On 3 May, Dönitz sent his chief aide von Friedeburg to Montgomery at Lüneburg to open negotiations for an armistice with the western allies. This was refused, as von Friedeburg was not empowered to agree to an unconditional surrender, upon which the Allies insisted. Also on 3 May another 39 boats were wrecked, 32 at Kiel and another 7 at Hamburg, on the North Sea coast.