Das Boot

[Woodlouse2002]

By coincidence! And by a malfunctioning self-sinking system aboard U-110.

Lets not go into details. But the British captured it all in 1941. The Americans got their grubby mits on it in 1944.

And self-sinking system or no, we still forced the sub to the surface.

[Hagar]

By coincidence! And by a malfunctioning self-sinking system aboard U-110.

I think you'll find that it's very often llittle mishaps like this that determine the outcome of a battle, if not the whole war.

From what I can make out (never having seen the film) it seems to be based on a combination of 3 separate events. One was the surrender of U-570 to a Hudson of RAF Coastal Command off Iceland in August 1941. This was the first & I believe only time a submarine had surrendered to an aircraft & seems to be the origin of the U-571 in the title. The real U-571 was sunk by depth charges from an Australian Sunderland aircraft on January 28, 1944 - months before the U.S. Navy captured U-505. All hands were lost.

The action everybody say's it's based on involving HMS Bulldog & U-110 took place in May 1941 http://uboat.net/boats/u110.htm An Enigma machine was indeed captured but according to the historians at Bletchley Park the most important to them was the capture of the code books for a new type of Enigma machine, by HMS Petard from U-559 off Port Said on 1st February 1942. http://www.ellsbury.com/ultrafassongrazier.htm

Feelings were so strong in Britain about this film that PM Blair made a statement about it in Parliament. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/781858.stm

[HawkerTempest5]

U-571 is pure junk fiction. What annoys me most about this c**p is that people will watch it and think it's true history. How this pulp can be even in the same rack, let alone the same package as a classic like Das Boot is far beyond me.

[Jared]

See I watched U-571 as pure entertainment...

I don't ordinarily watch movies unless it's supposed to be a documentary or some sort for the history part... :-)

[Hagar]

For all I know U-571 is a perfectly good film, providing the audience realises it's fiction. Unfortunately, Hollywood's habit of rewriting history to please its main audience causes many people to have a very warped idea of history.

Lets not go into details. But the British captured it all in 1941. The Americans got their grubby mits on it in 1944.

You should bear in mind that all the Allied nations were represented at Bletchley Park including a US contingent. They would have had access to anything of importance including the Enigma codes.

[Papa9571]

The movie U-571 is pure Hollywood fictional storytelling.

Das Boot shows the reality of the Greman seaman in the U boat service and how hard it was.

I never appreciated that fact until I visited the U-505 in Chicago. I was struck by how small the boat actually was and how cramped it must have been. I was also struck by how accuratly the movie portrayed the living conditions on a U boat.

And never under estimate our British cousins or their resourcefullness. They were decoding enigma brodcasts during the Battle of Britian and actually had an emigma machine that had been smuggled out of Poland in 1939.

And While it was the US that provided the supplies, men, and material to help win the war it was the British that made the invasion possible by preventing Hitler from occupying the British Isles.

[Hagar]

Das Boot shows the reality of the Greman seaman in the U boat service and how hard it was.

I never appreciated that fact until I visited the U-505 in Chicago. I was struck by how small the boat actually was and how cramped it must have been. I was also struck by how accuratly the movie portrayed the living conditions on a U boat.

It's impressive to realise the effort the film-makers put into making Das Boot as realistic as possible. Much of it was filmed in an accurate mock-up of a real U-boat.
[quote]Well, it may have been a labour of love, but the actors were certainly made to suffer for their art.

A special cylindrical chamber was constructed, engineere d to allow up to 45

[Woodlouse2002]

You should bear in mind that all the Allied nations were represented at Bletchley Park including a US contingent. They would have had access to anything of importance including the Enigma codes.

Ah, but the Americans insisted on having a team there. So we put them in the only airconditioned, centrally heated hut in the whole of Bletchly park where they couldn't do too much harm. While the British code breakers went about their work deciphering and building Colossus.

[legoalex2000]

hey i said i liked the movie, not what history it contained (or didn't).

[-sam-]

"Das Boot" yes I remember quite well.
It was filmed just around the corner in the "Bavaria Filmstadt". I visited the studios some years ago. You can
walk through the submarine. Quite impressive.

[Wing Nut]

One of the best War movies ever. Like Woody says, see the whole thing not just the short version.

Actually, I would have to call it one of the best ANTI-war movies ever.  And you are right; see the long version instead of the truncated one.  Wasn't the original mini-series something like 16 hours?

Kevin

[Woodlouse2002]

[quote]


Actually, I would have to call it one of the best ANTI-war movies ever.

[ozzy72]

There was an excellent series on C4 in the UK some years ago about Bletchley Park called Station X.
The talked about capturing the enigma machine from the U-Boat and talked to some of the RN team that went into a potential death-trap. They also tracked down and interviewed the radio operator from the U-Boat. And it turned out that he thought it more important to save a book of poems written by his girlfriend to him than destroy the code-books.
True love is a dangerous thing in war, but apparently they're still happily married after 50-something years, and good luck to 'em