9.052 minSeason 1 • Episode 6
LatestThe submarine is heavily damaged, lying on the ocean floor in a depth of 280 meters. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, the crew starts with repair work and dares an attempt to emerge. After tormented tension the U 96 finally breaks off from the ocean floor.
Based on an autobiographical novel by German World War II photographer Lothar-Guenther Buchheim, Das Boot follows the lives of a fearless U-Boat captain (Jurgen Prochnow) and his inexperienced crew as they patrol the Atlantic and Mediterranean in search of Allied vessels, taking turns as hunter and prey.
Direction
Petersen shot chronologically to break his cast psychologically.
Sound
Sonar pings that'll haunt your actual nightmares.
Cinematography
Handheld cameras in 10-foot wide steel coffin sets.
Creator
Wolfgang Petersen
Jürgen Prochnow
Der Alte
Herbert Grönemeyer
Leutnant Werner
Klaus Wennemann
Leitender Ingenieur
Hubertus Bengsch
Erster Wachoffizier
Martin Semmelrogge
Zweiter Wachoffizier
Bernd Tauber
Obersteuermann
Erwin Leder
Obermaschinist Johann
Martin May
Fähnrich Ullmann
Uwe Ochsenknecht
Bootsmann Lamprecht
Claude-Oliver Rudolph
Dieselheizer Ario
Jan Fedder
Bootsmaat Pilgrim
Heinz Hoenig
Funkmaat Hinrich
Ralf Richter
Frenssen
Oliver Stritzel
Schwalle
Lutz Schnell
Dufte
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The cast was forbidden from seeing sunlight during production. Their pale, clammy exhaustion is 100% real.
This was West Germany's first honest reckoning with ordinary Wehrmacht soldiers — not heroes, not villains, just men drowning slowly.
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