U-434 Besuch | U-Boot 434 (2024)

FAQs

Is the U-boat in Das Boot real? ›

The U-612 used during filming is a non-diving u-boat replica of the US Navy submarine S-33 built in Valetta, Malta. It was heavily modified but is the same watercraft used for U-571 (2000). German submariners had the lowest survival rate of any branch of service of any country during World War Two.

Their ability to submerge and to surprise enemies led to massive casualties: Germany and Austria-Hungary sank almost 5,000 merchant ships during World War I, killing approximately 15,000 Allied sailors.

Germany built 1,162 U-boats during World War II and 785 were destroyed by the end of the war. The remaining 377 U-boats were surrendered (or scuttled by the Germans). In contrast, U-boats sank about 3,000 Allied ships (merchant ships and warships).

U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. The term is an anglicised version of the German word U-Boot [ˈuːboːt], a shortening of Unterseeboot (under-sea boat), though the German term refers to any submarine.

The U-boat was eventually found at a depth of over 70m (230ft). The team worked closely with U-boat expert and marine archaeologist Tomas Termote to identify the wreck which "remains in amazing condition".

All submarine movies are overly dramatic and typically contain obligatory scenes such as flooding, exceeding safe depth, or failing components. While also overly dramatic in terms of the acting, Das Boot Director's Cut most realistically depicts the struggles of undersea warfare during World War II.

In 1942, German U-Boats were waging a costly hidden war in the Gulf of Mexico, only a few miles off the coast of Louisiana. Lost among the histories of major World War Two battles with Nazi Germany are a series of attacks on American ships along the Gulf coast of Louisiana and other southern states.

The Royal Navy lost 73 and the U.S. Navy 52 submarines, while France lost 59.

According to my compilation of U-boat fates by cause some 46 U-boats are now being listed as missing in action during the war. Some were no doubt lost to operational accidents (such as Schorchel failures or hull failure while deep diving) while others were most probably lost to yet-unidentified enemy action. U-1.

Today, the U-2540 is the only U-boat still floating in the sea. The U-2540 is open to visitors and dedicated to the preservation of peace.

Who had the best submarines in WWII? ›

In comparison to the submarines of the United States, which were already very advanced and won the Pacific theatre, German U-boats displayed greatly enhanced underwater speed and endurance, with highly streamlined hulls and snorkels, and in this way posed one of the most serious risks to the Allied powers in WWII—as ...

The U-boats could go faster and farther, and they could carry almost twice as many weapons as the newest U.S. submarines. They also could submerge four times faster. The U.S. Navy's subs possessed advantages only in maximum depth and an extra half knot submerged.

Despite being frequently encountered as rumours, no U-boats ever used Ireland as a refuelling base.

All modern German submarines are tested for a depth of 197 feet, but for short periods they can go deeper. Cases are known of boats having dived to 250 to 300 feet without injury.

The Germans had a severe shortage of both maritime patrol planes and air bases. In the harsh, rough seas and stormy weather of the North Atlantic, this meant the Germans were limited by what they could hear and see from their U-boats. By comparison, Allied patrol planes were hunting them.

History of the U-505 at MSI

The sub became a part of the Museum's permanent collection in 1954 with the help of its former captain and Chicago native, Dan Gallery. The boat was docked outside the Museum, exposed to Chicago's elements, for almost 50 years and remained a Museum favorite, toured by millions of guests.

U-406 was sister boat to U-96 featured in the 1981 movie Das Boot. Designed and built as a full flooding negative buoyancy model it can submerge and cruise under water.

In 1954, U-505 was donated to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Illinois. She is now one of four German World War II U-boats that survive as museum ships, and just one of two Type IXCs still in existence with U-534.

While Saint-Nazaire was the base used in the novel and where U-96 was based at in late 1941, the film was changed to La Rochelle because its appearance had not changed to such a large degree in the years since World War II.