''U-Boote westwärts!'' (in English: ''U-boats Westward!'') is a 1941 German war film promoting the ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

''. It centers on a

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

mission in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

and was produced by UFA. The

used for the film was , which would later play a major role in

Operation Drumbeat The Second Happy Time (; officially (), and also known among German submarine commanders as the "American Shooting Season") was a phase in the Battle of the Atlantic during which Axis submarines attacked merchant shipping and Allied naval v ...

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 The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ship spots them and tries to torpedo them, but the U-boat ends up sinking it.

Cast

Herbert Wilk Herbert Wilk (1905–1977) was a German stage, television and film actor. He emerged as a screen actor during the Nazi era, appearing in war films such as '' U-Boote westwärts'' (1941).Kreimeier p.312 However the bulk of his career came after the ...

Kapitänleutnant , short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( or ''lieutenant captain'') is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the modern German . The rank is rated Ranks and insignia of NATO navies' officers, OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to i ...

Hoffmeister *

Heinz Engelmann Heinz Engelmann (14 January 1911 – 26 September 1996) was a German film actor. He was married to the actress Gertrud Meyen. During World War II, Engelmann served in the German Army (1935–1945), German Army with an Anti-aircraft warfare, anti-a ...

as Olt. zur See Wiegand *

Joachim Brennecke Joachim Brennecke (6 December 1919 – 6 September 2011) was a German stage actor, stage and film actor. During the Second World War he had prominent roles in Nazi propaganda films such as ''Attack on Baku'' and ''5 June (film), 5 June''.Kreimeier ...

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 Ilse Werner (; born Ilse Charlotte Still, 11 July 1921 – 8 August 2005) was a Dutch-German actress, singer, and musical whistler. Life She was born in Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia) to a Dutch father, merchant and plantation owne ...

as Irene Winterfeld *

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (; 16 September 1891 – 24 December 1980) was a German grand admiral and convicted war criminal who, following Adolf Hitler's Death of Adolf Hitler, suicide, succeeded him as head of state of Nazi Germany during the Second World ...

as himself

Motifs

The British are shown as cowardly and

duplicitous Duplicity is the error committed when the charge (known as a ''count'') on an indictment describes more than one offence. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the ju ...

. 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.

References

External links

*
''U-Boote westwärts'' YouTube - Russian listing
1941 films 1940s war films Films of Nazi Germany Films directed by Günther Rittau World War II submarine films Nazi World War II propaganda films U-boat fiction German black-and-white films UFA GmbH films 1940s German films 1940s German-language films Films scored by Harald Böhmelt Nazi-era films restricted in Germany German-language war films {{WWII-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Motifs

See also

References

External links