Goofs

The sawfish logo on the boat tower differs in shape between shots (full scale model leaving harbor in La Rochelle vs. smaller model during first emergency dive), most notably the mouth line of the fish is different.

While being depth-charged, one of the sailors marks down the total charges that have been dropped. He marks the 23rd charge down, and the next shot shows the board back to 22 charges.

When the captain issues an order for a torpedo to be fired at the burning ship, he quotes a distance of 650m. Later he notes the distance as 950m in his log.

When they meet the other U-boat at sea, Werner and the 2nd Lt. report it off the port bow even though clearly looking and pointing to starboard.

During the start of the film the all footage of the submarine show that is was armed with a 8.8 cm SK C/30 naval deck gun and a 2 cm FlaK 30 AA gun on the deck. In the final footage of the submarine returning to France whilst the crew is singing it is missing both guns, presumably stock footage of another U-boat or an incorrectly made model. While the 8.8cm gun was destroyed in the attack, the 2.0cm gun wasn't.

The sub surfaces on a night with a bright full moon in order to torpedo an already damaged Allied ship. But the moonlight, together with the light emitted by the huge fires on the ship, would make the sub easily visible to any Allied anti-sub escort ships. In actuality, a real U-boat commander would never put his boat in such danger, especially to sink a ship that was almost ready to sink anyway.

In a rather famous sequence of the movie/TV-series, Bootsmann Lamprecht (Uwe Ochsenknecht's character) informs the crew that their football-team (Schalke 04) had just lost 5:0 and was "out of the running" (in a non-specified competition). Given the time-frame of the movie (early Oct. to 24 Dec. 1941), this is historically wrong. While the German national championship during this time used a KO-system in its final stages (unlike today), the final for the 40/41-season was held in June '41 and that of the 41/42-season in July '42. Neither date fits the time-frame of the movie and in any case, Schalke made it to both finals (losing in 40/41 and winning in 41/42) - so they never got eliminated in either season. In fact, Schalke was such a dominant team during this time, that they only lost a single match (the final) during the entire 40/41 league-championship. The only other competition they could be talking about is the German Cup ("Tschammerpokal") of 1941, whose semi-finals and final fit the time-frame (12 Oct and 2 Nov, respectively). However: In that competition, Schalke won their semi-final (6:0) and only lost in the final (2:1 against Dresdner SC).

U-32 is stated to have made contact with an enemy convoy. Following the convoy attack, Kriechbaum reads a report from U-112. U-32, a Type VIIA boat, actually sank in October 1940, a year prior to the events of this film. U-112 was a proposed Type IXB boat, which was designed to be a seaplane carrier but was never completed.

(at around 55 mins) Captain and several crew members are taking wave splashes/spray in their faces while standing on the bridge. The Captain keeps using his binoculars. If binocular lenses are wet they are completely useless for their intended purpose.

SS Weser was built in 1922 by Norddeutscher Lloyd and was the third ship to bear that name. The SS Weser was captured by HMCS Prince Robert off the Pacific coast of Mexico in 1940 and so could not have been interned in Spain. During the war the SS Weser was thought to have been responsible for the sinking of the British ship, SS Anglo-Saxon (sunk August 21 1940), but this sinking was later attributed to the German merchantman, SS Widder.

In the bordello sequence prior to the launch scene, swing music was being played. Under Hitler, swing or big band music was forbidden, and only German classical music could be played. However, popular music was common in such service clubs, especially outside Germany proper.

At around 51 minutes, Jurgen Prochnow is scrambling up the conning ladder. An extra in an officer's cap is running toward the camera but Prochnow's foot kicks the extra in the head, HARD, knocking the man's cap off.

When viewing the scene in slow motion, however, it can be seen that the Captain's foot doesn't actually make contact with the extra's head, just the hat. Also, it is quite possible that this sort of thing would have happened within the tight confines of a real U-Boat.

During the first encounter with a convoy, a lieutenant (the one who wears a sweater) gets out of bed with his hair a mess and in his face. After he climbs to the bridge in the next shot, his hair is perfectly combed and out of his face. This clearly indicates he owns and knows how to use a comb.

At the first very deep dive (1h50m) when bolts starts bursting, one hit and break the glass of the command center clock. Later in the movie the glass is intact. However, this is after ample time for repairs, and even after the resupply in Spain.

When the boat commander and Lt. Werner write down their respective reports, it's clearly seen that both do it in English. There would be no reason for any of them to do so.

It is likely that the original contributor of this goof had watched the English dub of the film in which the logs would've been shown in English. In the original German film all the logs are shown in German.

While on the Weser ship, in Spain, the Captain and the crew are offered fresh figs. This cannot be possible as fresh figs are available only during summer and the action takes place in winter.

When the allied destroyer attacks, there are underwater shots showing the hull from below. The depiction of the fluid flow in these shots is incorrect. The waves around the hull move way too fast, revealing it's a ship model of smaller dimensions than a full-scale ship.

After returning to La Rochelle, and as the submarine base is attacked by allied airplanes, a presumably dead soldier can be seen lying on the ground that has his eyes wide open for a second, then notices that filming the shot has begun, and quickly closes his eyes to simulate death.

When the U-96 surfaces after the drill and test dive the bow wake of the camera boat can be clearly seen at the bottom of the frame.

When the boat is returning to its pen, martial music is playing and all of the personnel ashore are standing at attention. All except for one. In the distance one of the extras, unaware that the camera was rolling, can be seen dancing a jig.

When the U-Boat is going on its first mission, there's a man with a mustache among the soldiers atop the submarine, waving goodbye. Although the shot is from a distance, he's clearly quite older than the rest of the crew. He's never seen again.

The Enigma machine shown is a 4-rotor M4 type. The film is set in the autumn of 1941. The 4-rotor type was not introduced until the 1 February 1942. Prior to that 3-rotor M3 types were used. It is known however, the M4 machines were distributed well before 1 February 1942, as otherwise it would have been impossible to switch over to the new machine on that date. Until 1 February 1942, M4 machines that had already been distributed, were used in M3-compatible mode, which means that the leftmost rotor had to be set to 'A'.

Towards the end of the film, while the Captain is in close-up, a blonde woman's head can be seen in the lower-left corner. She is the prop girl.

When the planes are attacking the harbor, a charge that is meant to simulate the explosion of a bomb dropped from the sky is visible on the water in a wide shot.

When two crewmen get up to get to their stations, they clearly go around the cameraman who is blocking the entrance to the torpedo room.

The captain of the 'Weser' takes the 1st Lieutenant for the U-boot's captain, and addresses him accordingly as 'Kapitänleutnant'. Now the Lieutenant, in perfect dress, clearly displays the double stripes of his actual rank. It is difficult to imagine any naval officer making such a mistake. But the movie (unlike the novel) depicts the Weser's captain as some kind of an operetta officer. Even so, he is very formal, and such a blunder does not seem very compatible.

The "false alarm" crash dive is triggered by a watchman spotting a "plane". He points to the rear end of the ship, slightly left. This is starboard, not 'port' (D: "backbord"), as he tells the captain when submerged.

On the Weser, the captain says he has never had fresh figs before, but he demonstrates the correct technique of opening one to get at the flesh inside. However, throughout the movie he proves to be a wise person who can figure out fast the best way to eat the fruit.