Served on two Balao-class diesel boats in the 50's. They were crowded and smelled of diesel fuel but had a lot more room than the u-boats. The crews mess was next to the galley and could seat about 15/16 people at a time. No eating in the torpedo rooms. No showers while on patrol. Good duty, wish I could do it again. Sorry no 80 plus year old sailors allowed.
@@kelvyquayo actually smoking under normal conditions was not an issue. Only when under attack or when trying to stay submerged for longer than normal. the nuke attack boats allowed smoking because they could clean the air with scrubbers and burners. I retired in the 70's and smoking was still allowed in the "boomers". Now I hear it is "verbotten" on board.
@@stevefarris9433 What about those old diesel boats? Are the fumes actually combustible enough to really worry about? I've seen at least one film of guys smoking down in a German Uboat.. although they were in the control room..
A very appropriate comment Pablo. If people are complaining about wearing a face mask today, how much would they complain about living conditions on board a U-boat?
@@markfryer9880 The same people will complain about everything. We had chronic bitchers when I served in the Navy on destroyers. They usually got the shit details...
When this movie was first released in the USA, American Jews protested it, saying it "humanized" the Nazis. But most Wehrmacht and Kriegsmarine hated the Nazis, the Luftwaffe too. Here in NJ where there has been a huge German population since the early 1900's, Germans were basically proud of this movie because it showed that not all Germans who fought for their country were Nazis as most movies did. I personally knew many German soldiers who moved to the United States who detested the Nazi regime who only became fully aware of their brutality after the war.
+machia0705 The humanization is actually necessary exactly BECAUSE it is so uncomfortable to realize that the people drawn into such wars are not just cardboard villains. The banality of evil, or in this case, the banality of not even evil, but simply "doing your job" is much scarier to accept sometimes than the idea that some people are just "evil"
machia0705 When "Downfall" came into theaters, many people complained about Hitler being "humanized" - to which a German Jewish literature critic and Warsaw ghetto survivor remarked "As what should they have portrayed Hitler then, if not human? An elephant?"
The most underrated film of its time is a hyper realistic, naturally suspenseful war story.An almost perfect movie. Acting, directing, editing (!) set's, costumes, script, cinematography are all unbelievably good. I watched the film first on video many years ago and was blown away. I invited a friend to watch it the next day and instead of watching the screen I watched my friend twist his body into an anxious pretzel during the incredibly suspenseful battle sequences. So good, never been equaled.
At the start of the movie, you want to not like the men. Seeing them go to within inches of hell and back again, you cannot but sympathize with them only to have almost all of them including the boat itself taken away, again inches from shelter and relief. It's such a mind fuck and is why it's probably the best war movie ever made. I watched it recently and, although I felt like I needed to talk to someone about it, I get teary eyed and a flutter in my voice just speaking about it.
2013 I visited the boot near Kiel. Bought 2 prints of u-boots had them framed. They are in my lounge. Naturally I'm a single man, no woman would allow that.
@@freeagent8225 You are welcome to visit again! Too bad we scrapped the one Uboat we took on after the war, after ending duties in the 60's we really should have built a museum for it, not just because we had it, but we came out #3 on the list of merchant ships lost to Uboats and we lost more men to that, than all of our other arms combined, to enemy action. Merchant sailors and their struggles were scarcely ever known here, and it isn't until recently that focus has shifted on to them. And besides, yes, the men in the uboats sank ill equipped merchants, but essentially had to live like pigs in cramped conditions, and were hunted by well-equipped escorts & destroyers, they suffered 75% losses and does deserve some mention as well!
One of the best war films ever made , more like a documentary's then a fiction . What makes it so excellent was the trouble they went to get every thing in the boat accurate . They even employed an ex U-Boot captain to advise on the film . And he insisted that every detail, down the pattern on the blankets on the bunks was correct.
One of the more interesting problems I have seen survivors have with the Film is the crew cheering when sinking an enemy ship... they said that would be very unprofessional. Also that no one would have dared throw that oil rag at an officer like that. All in all though I would say perhaps the most historically accurate movies I can think of.
I've seen or read other interviews with Juergen Prochnow regarding the Boat, and U-Boat service. He is quite the expert on the subject, right down to the nuts and bolts.
And you can’t even flush the toilet when the ship is submerged. There’s actually a U Boat that sank because someone flushed a toilet while under water.
Starting at 2:05 is the song J'Attendrei by French artist Rina Ketty. U-Boats had a PA system and the radioman could play records for the crew. The U-505 which was captured by a hunter-killer group led by the baby flattop USS Guadalcanal had American Jazz among the recordings. The U-505 is preserved in Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.
so crazy to think about the thousands of lives lost suffocating at the bottom of the ocean.. If everyone in this movie had died in the sickest way possible, their lives and deaths would have been a complete irrelevance to the u-boat fatality statistics. Just one more missing u-boat of thousands..
One of my hobbies is collecting submarine Dvd's & sub war films! The best sub film ever is "Das Boot" the original German film, and the music by Klaus Doldinger is absolutely outstanding! (I even have the original vinyl LP). ⚓
A Excellent Video.. Highly Recommended.. Thank You Very Much For Sharing.. One Of The Best Films Ever Made. I Wish They Would Make More Like It. I Never Ever Get Tried Watching DAS BOOT. I Lived In Montreal And Saw It In German When It Was Released On 17 September 1981..
After so many years i can tell You: Das Boot îs one of the best war movie. Congratulations to all who made this film, it was so realistic, very well directed with fantastic actors. Respect! Greetings from Romania!
I saw this film in the theatre when it was first released in the US. By far the best submarine film ever made. The sense of claustrophobia was realistic,and you could almost smell the stink of diesel,rotting food and human sweat. Wolfgang Peterson was a genius making this film. You can’t help feeling sorry for what these young men had to endure to go to war in these steel coffins.
I turn off all the lights in my home theatre and you feel like you're one of the crew, inside the boot. Not many films have this feel. Maybe "the Great Escape" in it's time.
I love this tour!! Thank u for ur movie and this tour around boat!! Best tour ever. Im from Poland and as many, germans war movies r not our most favourite but Das Boot is so good ,well made and one of best movies ever made and now with such a great actor we can see das boot once again. Thank u Sir !
lol awesome vid! im watching, again, das boot. best ever movie ever from germany which was a jumpstart for almost all actors at that time. and im watching the 3.5 hours version, frikn awesome ! soundtrack is also the best ever
I've been lucky enough to visit the USS Pampanito just 2 months back. Then I thought the US Balao-class was cramped, and those were optimized for long Pacific tours. Trying to imagine 48 crewmen in this even smaller sub must be hell.
I was lucky enough to see it in Babel studios 33 years ago😁 I will never forget it - August sunshine in Bavaria, and the U-boat set was like an oven! Glad it is still there 👍
This movie, Das Boot, really suprised med how good it was. I didnt think I could stand all those hours. But it went easily. However, I really realised I could NEVER have lived on a u-boat like this. Impressive how others could.
@Matt Das Boot was only filmed in German. If you look closely, the mouths are not in sync if you watch the dubbed versions, however I think most of the original actors provided the English dubs. The only movie I know of that actually filmed twice was the 1962 war epic, The Longest Day. One had all the actors speaking English, the other had all the actors speaking their native language.
Technically all versions of the movie were dubbed, even the German version since the use of gyroscopes during filming made the spoken dialogue completely inaudible. It is true that the actors were all bi-lingual and provided the English dubbing.
I met a WWII Kriegsmarine sailor when living in Germany. His ship was sunk and he was taken prisoner and sent to Canada. He told me he and his fellow sailors (POWs) worked cutting down trees and dreamed of being back home in Germany. When repatriated, learned of the war crimes, he was horrified and said, “We all knew nothing about the atrocities “. Given the state of Germany after the war, he went on to say, “I dreamed of being back in Canada.”
Absolutely fantastic! An excellent tour of the boat, presented by a great guide. The bravery of such sailors, with the odds stacked so heavily against them was outstanding. What men. Those that vilify the 'Sea Wolves' are one-eyed bigots. These men were at war, under strict orders; lest we forget that.
I agree. The full version, the one shown on German TV (and UK also I think) has far better character development and some very funny sequences that didn't appear in the screen version (especially The Old Man's 'Liebesbriefe'). Sadly, it would cost a fortune to restore and remaster the uncut version though.
The mention that diving was a very coordinated process reminded me of the American Fletcher Class destroyers (probable many other surface ships). When the signal was 'telegraphed' the Fire Room(s) (Boiler Rms) AND the Gearing Room(s) (Engine Rms) BOTH had to change speeds at the same time, or the engines would fail. It looks simple in the movies - like only the engine room has to make changes, but the Boiliers must adjust as well or you're dead in the water - literally.
Thanks for the upload narrated by the actor who played the boats captain. Towards the end of WWII many U boats were destroyed because of allies technology advancements as well as cracking of the Enigma code.
Final stage of blowing main ballast tanks used diesel exhaust, whereas US designs used a blower. In the German boats, clutches connected the engines to the dynamo shafts and from there to the propeller shafts. Therefore during surface running, the transmission was mechanical, not electrical. US designs used a wholly electric transmission and 4 engines.
@butchtropic : From what I understand, both US and German subs, if they were at periscope depth, could use the hydroplanes to "steer" the boat to the surface, engage the diesel engines, and use the exhaust to blow out the ballast tanks.
