U-boats Westward!

U-Boote westwärts! (in English: U-boats Westward!) is a 1941 German war film promoting the Kriegsmarine.^[1] It centers on a U-boat mission in the Battle of the Atlantic and was produced by UFA. The U-boat used for the film was U-123, which would later play a major role in Operation Drumbeat.^[2]

U-Boote westwärts!
Directed by	Günther Rittau
Written by	Georg Zoch
Starring	Herbert Wilk
Cinematography	Igor Oberberg
Edited by	Johanna Meisel
Music by	Harald Böhmelt
Distributed by	UFA
Release date	9 May 1941 (1941-05-09)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	Nazi Germany
Language	German
Budget	30,000 Marks

Plot

The film opens aboard a U-boat as it returns from a mission. It then follows the crew onshore the day before they ship off for their next mission—meeting their families and sweethearts, spending a last night at a club, and so forth. Then they ship off, soon sighting and boarding a Dutch merchant ship, which they inspect for contraband. The boarding of the ship is shown being done professionally and in a non-confrontational manner. While they are aboard the Dutch ship, a Royal Navy ship spots them and tries to torpedo them, but the U-boat ends up sinking it.

Cast

• Herbert Wilk as Kapitänleutnant Hoffmeister
• Heinz Engelmann as Olt. zur See Wiegand
• Joachim Brennecke as Lt. zur See v. Benedict
• Ernst Wilhelm Borchert as Olt. Griesbach
• Karl John as Matr. Ob. Gefr. Drewitz
• Clemens Hasse as Masch.-Maat Sonntag
• Ilse Werner as Irene Winterfeld
• Admiral Karl Dönitz as himself

Motifs

The British are shown as cowardly and duplicitous.^[1] The film also glamorizes death in battle: the British ship was torpedoed even though it had German POWs, and one dies, speaking of the honor of dying for the fatherland.^[1]

See also

• List of German films 1933–1945
• List of World War II films