76 DAS BOOT [THE BOAT]
Plot Summary
Lt. Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer) is assigned as a war correspondent to U-96 in
October 1941. The night before they depart on a war patrol he meets its captain
(Jürgen Prochnow), chief engineer (Klaus Wennemann), and the crew in a French
bordello. The next morning, U-96 sails out of La Rochelle. After many uneventful
days, the crew is excited when another U- boat locates an enemy convoy. U-96 tar-
gets a British destroyer, but the destroyer spots its periscope and attacks with
depth charges. The boat makes a narrow escape. A storm rages for nearly a month,
during which time U-96 comes across another U-boat in raging seas. Following
the storm, U-96 attacks a British convoy, sinking two ships with torpedoes, but it
is spotted by a destroyer and has to dive below its rated limit to evade depth charges.
During the depth- charge attack, Obermaschinist (chief mechanic) Johann (Erwin
Leder) panics and has to be restrained on threat of being shot. Despite damages,
the boat surfaces under the night sky. A torpedoed enemy tanker is still afloat and
burning, so they shoot again, realizing afterwards that there are sailors still on
board. Helplessly, they watch as the burning, terrified sailors throw themselves
overboard and attempt to swim toward their boat. However, the captain, in line
with his orders to avoid taking prisoners, commands his men to back the boat away
from the desperate sailors. The U- boat is ordered to sail on to La Spezia, Italy,
through the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow sea passage heavi ly guarded by the Royal
Navy. The U- boat docks in Vigo, Spain, and meets up with the SS Weser for a resup-
ply, and then embarks for Italy. As the crew approaches Gibraltar, they are strafedObermaschinist (Chief Mechanic) Johann (Erwin Leder) tends the engines of U-96 in
Wolfgang Petersen’s Das Boot (1981). (Triumph Releasing Corporation/Photofest)