Original subtitles

- Permission to come up. - Yes.

Morning.

Aircraft closing, 1-7-0.

Alarm!

Move it, gangway.

Stay down. Move it.

Out of the way. Slow down.

Watch out.

Watch it.

- Upper deck secured. - Upper deck secured.

Flood buoyancy tanks.

Take her down, 60 metres.

I'm sure it came from the port side, out of the sun. Not identified.

These fliers they send out sure take some chances, you must admit.

Up there alone in their ancient machines...

...waiting to swoop down on their prey.

Bombs could be dumped anywhere. Who would see it?

Our loving Lord?

Our loving Lord sees everything.

Sheer luck he didn't see us.

Or was it a sea gull, huh?

Difficult to see when they fly at you out of the sun.

Well, Dufte, well.

We'll surface in five minutes.

It can happen to anyone.

Stand by to surface.

The days tracked by in endless succession. On watch or off.

Nothing ever happens.

There's only one sound that fascinates us more and more.

The chirping of Morse code from the hydrophone.

Very laboriously, the decoding machine converts...

...a meaningless jumble of letters into a message.

But is it for us?

Well?

Nope.

Nothing for us.

The line that records our course zigzags...

...like a frightened hare across the chart.

The routine never changes.

Day in, day out, always the same.

Every day, the same routine, on watch and off watch.

Everywhere you smell the acrid stench of oil, sweat, bilge and damp clothing.

Morning, sir.

Morning's great.

Twenty minutes to go, lieutenant.

Don't waste, peel thinner. Orders from the top.

More coffee over here.

It's just before midnight.

First watch is standing by to go on top.

To get their eyes used to the darkness...

...the control room has switched to red lights.

- Watch out - Goddamn!

- I have coffee all over me. - Uneasy times, huh?

Pass the towel.

The captain, funny guy, isn't he?

He's reading his letters again.

What kind of letters?

Love letters.

He's got himself engaged to this Nazi chick.

Flier's widow.

Nazi chick?

They say they're great fucks.

What do you mean?

They teach the girls at the Reich school special techniques.

Such as?

They stick chalk in their asses and write on the chalkboard, "Otto, Otto."

It's true. That's why they're so flexible.

- Morning, men. - Morning, lieutenant.

Ocean, nothing but the ocean.

Not a sign of the enemy.

Just grubby necks, torn shirts, sweaty blankets...

...and worst of all, our own miserable faces.

Lousy fog.

Lousy weather.

Lousy damn patrol.

None of our folks back home know where we are.

No mail, contact forbidden, nothing.

I guess when we're sunk, we're reported missing, some month later.

Married yet, Kriechbaum?

I didn't waste any time, eh?

We're working on the fifth one.

Johann, it's good for you, fresh air.

No.

They're strange, these machine-room people.

"Aid to cleanliness," four letters.

Bath.

Thank you.

"Deep affection," four letters.

Love.

Perfect.

Intellectual starvation, I would say.

Signal decoder.

One moment.

Five, six, seven, eight.

New course, sir?

One minute.

Can I see the radiogram?

Convoy Square at AK 2246. Mean course, 60 degrees.

Speed, 8 knots. U-boat 37.

U-boat 37, that's Martin's boat moving in to attack.

Too far away. We'll never make it.

Damned!

When do we get some orders?

Well, Johann?

Captain.

What's up with the diesels?

The diesels seem satisfied, sir.

Satisfied and all full.

The chief is worried about our fuel consumption.

The chief is a careful man.

What's your opinion?

The chief knows what's best.

Funny times, Johann.

To be careful means very little.

They need heroes...

...and they are not too particular.

They make use of a broken hero.

Like Thomsen.

Or a dead hero.

Like Kelsch.

A good seaman is also a careful seaman, right Johann?

Says as much in naval regulations. Isn't that so?

On these diesels, you can depend, captain.

It's all right, Johann.

Excuse me.

For your journal?

- Yes, wonderful stuff. - Let's see you work! The press is here.

This way a moment. Yes, wonderful.

So nicely greased with Vaseline now. Come on. We're ready to ram it in!

Don't let me disturb you. Carry on working.

Can I just bring you around this way? Yes, good.

- Yes. Yes. - Quick! Quick! Move it!

Yes, this is great.

Can you go this way? Can I take this?

Good. Let's have some again with...

Who did that?

Who did that?!

Apply compressed air.

The worst day since we shipped out.

We avoid talking to each other.

We avoid each other like lepers.

Oh, my God, what a useless yo-yo!

At least she had a real nice shape.

Must make the best of what's there.

She hasn't got a friend. The girl's not a dame, huh?

Hey.

The exhaust doors, to countersink, I'll never forget that again.

I remember a day in Paris, in a bistro.

Good, what is it? Is it real sexy?

Let's have it.

There is this black guy with that blond girl.

And she's playing with him under the table.

They are not shy about that at all.

Those sluts in Paris.

Me neither, man.

Then he starts moaning, rolls his eyes...

...I check underneath the table...

...and see him come...

...and it lands on my shoes.

That's still better than in your coffee.

- Mine is warm. - They might relieve us sooner.

- It's always the same. - They always turn up late.

Hey, watch out, man.

Nothing is happening. Nothing.

We are sailing in limbo.

The silence on board is like the inside of a coffin.

One goddamn toilet, and then you have to share with this whore.

Where is our friend the Bible-thumper coming from, Schwalle?

He's a church berger.

Must be a pretty good place, huh, Schwalle.

They raise the afterbirths and chuck the babies in the garbage dump.

Hey, friend...

...what chapter is it today, Lord, my host?

Shut your dirty mouth.

- Shut up, huh? I'll shut your mouth. - Leave me alone.

Gives me a bloody pain, spouting this religious stuff.

Let him have his way, we'll be crawling on both knees, singing and praying.

Tell me, now...

...you got any hairs up your nose?

- Why? - I've got some up my ass.

Maybe we could knit them together.

Françoise, my love...

...this is my 14th letter, but you've yet to see one.

20th day at sea.

Head foggy, limbs hurt, eyes burn. It's all so crazy.

Inhale bad smells and produce our own. What a madness.

- Alarm! - Alarm!

Get topside.

Flood it!

All main vents open!

There's a shadow appearing starboard.

- Take her down 30 metres. - Down 30 metres. Stern planes up.

Easy. Bow planes down 10.

Planes at zero.

Anything on the starboard beam?

Propeller sounds.

1-1-0 degrees.

Way aft of us.

Contact growing fainter.

Fading faster.

All right.

We'd better stay down now.

- Steer 1-2-0. - Steer 1-2-0.

A lone ship travelling fast.

We have no chance of getting her in this light.

Steady on 1-2-0, sir.

Stand by to take a reading.

"It's more than merely superficial to take care..."

...in dress and personal appearance.

It denotes that the inner man is someone upstanding...

...and has a corresponding effect on other people.

An officer should be thoroughly unpretentious...

...in his dressing deportment.

This, regrettably, is not always the case.

In the old days...

...young officers used to be treated more indulgently in this respect.

Mindful that the German lieutenant had always been prepared to die...

"...in a pinch, his superiors..."

Comfortable, huh?

No mail, no telephone.

Well-ventilated boat.

Solid-wood panelling.

Free food too.

We're in clover here.

Like fresh horse droppings.

They're rolling in clover as well.

They've no need to work to make a living.

They're even allowed to smoke.

"And when all that remains in the gaze that they turn on him..."

...is the age-old question that betokens ultimate trust and confidence:

'Sir, where do you order us to die? '

A junior officer reaps the full fruits of his labour as leader and educator...

"...when given responsibility for the training..."

U-boat special cocktail. Jealous?

Stop that!

"Our recent triumphs:."

We dive to evade enemy aircraft. Lost contact.

"Dive to avoid destroyer. Depth charge."

The British have stopped making mistakes.

Cut off extra supply of fuel to the engines!

- Torpedo rooms, carry out lateral... - Come on!

- Watch out! - Check periscope alignment.

I'll be in the engine room.

- 0-6-0. - Check.

What's going on?

- Look out! Here we go, girls. - What's happening?

It's U-32. She's spotted a British convoy somewhere in our vicinity.

We should be there in 10 hours.

- Now hear this. - Listen.

U- 32 is operating against a convoy. We are joining in the hunt.

Contact expected anytime after 1800 hours. Over.

Soon we'll get rid of these beauties. They're all ready for blastoff.

Over 30 freighters!

Berthold has to wait till we arrive.

He followed the convoy and keeps in contact with us.

For me, it's the best craft afloat, the U-boat.

And sailing ships.

Skimming across the sea like a bird on a wing.

I've sailed on a three-masted schooner. Wonderful ship.

Lots of room. Hulls big as churches.

That's a fine way to waste fuel.

Lunatic.

Damn this weather!

Come on, give us another squirt.

Another two hours.

Why doesn't Berthold signal us?

Maybe one of their destroyers got him on the run.

On the alert these days, the British.

They keep their destroyers well out of sight.

Very neat...

...deflect us from our course before our boat is in range.

Or force us to dive.

Yeah, yeah, it's no submarine picnic, let me tell you.

Damn this weather, damn it.

We could pass the British completely without seeing them.

We should be well within range. Why doesn't Berthold signal us?

Why haven't we heard from HQ?

Visibility is nil, sir! It's useless!

- Prepare to dive. - Prepare to dive!

- Clear the bridge now! - Shut it!

Diving positions! Stand by, main vents.

Bow planes up 10.

Stern down 5.

Bow planes zero.

Stern zero.

What's up? Why are we diving?

- Hydrophone check. - What?

In bad weather, you are able to hear more than see on the surface.

Stern planes up 5. Easy. Both planes zero.

Can't you make a contact?

Nothing?

Captain. Captain. Here.

Contact bearing 0-6-0. Quite faint.

Depth charges.

They're blasting someone.

What's the bearing from us now?

Moving right 0-4-5 degrees.

Moving away from us.

- Surface! Steer 3-3-0. - Steer 3-3-0.

Bow up 10, stern down 5. All ahead two-thirds.

Note this in our logbook:

In spite of bad weather, decided to commence operation. Moving in now.

Steady on 3-3-0, sir.

Damn the stinking weather!

- How does it look? - One minute, captain.

We are here. The enemy should be here if they haven't zigzagged.

Freighter on starboard bow! Bearing 0-4-0.

They're over there! 0-4-0 and closing!

That's no freighter.

No, a destroyer.

Coming straight at us. Clear the bridge.

Take her down!

- Come to periscope depth. - Come to periscope depth.

Bow planes up 10.

Both planes zero.

Stern down 5.

Come up.

- Stand by, battle stations. - Stand by, battle stations.

- Stand by, battle stations. - Stand by, battle stations.

Out of the way, damn it!

Gangway!

Make way!

Go, go, go! Faster! Faster! Hop, hop, hop!

Keep it level, chief.

Flood tubes one through four.

- Flood tubes one through four. - Flood tubes one through four.

He wants to attack the destroyer. Crazy in this weather.

Tubes one through four, flooded.

Watch your depth, chief.

Bow planes up 2. Stern planes down 2.

Come on.

Both planes come to zero.

13.5 metres.

- Open bow caps now. - Open bow caps.

Enemy speed to 1-0.

Bow left. Bow angle 0-3-0.

Range, 6000.

Depth, 2 metres.

Torpedo speed, 4-0. Spread shots from tubes one and three.

- Angle of spread, 3 degrees. - Spread shot, tubes one and three.

Angle of spread, 3 degrees.

Tubes one through four ready for submerged firing.

Damn it!

Damn it!

Close bow caps. Take her deeper, chief! Take her deeper!

Depth charges dropped!

Depth charges!

Get some fuses, quick!

Check all hull valves and closures.

Control, all secure.

Forecastle clear.

No serious damage.

They must have spotted our periscope.

Seems incredible with that sea condition.

- Are you ok? - I'm fine.

Quiet!

Both planes steady at zero. Level at 60 metres.

Is it getting louder?

Seems constant. Ahead of us.

2-8-0.

Two hundred and eighty... Thirty-five...

Drawing further ahead, 2-9-5.

- Left full rudder. - Left full rudder.

Rudder is left full, sir.

Steer due north.

- Deeper, chief. - Bow planes down 15. Stern up 10.

Pump 200 litres forward.

All ahead one-third.

200 metres forward, chief.

Both main motors indicate ahead one-third.

Now it gets psychological, friends.