And let me say, I thoroughly recommend "Das Boot" by Gunther Lothar-Buchheim.
It covers the story in a much more personal, and in depth way, especially focussing on the men of the boat, than the fil.
It is also much more intricate, and technical than the film, though the film was excellent.
Das Boot is the story of a German U-boat based in France.
From the decadent revelling in the whorehouse the night before the patrol, with the U-boat men whoring, throwing bottles, and shooting at each other, while the "Old Man" (the U-boat captain) makes various remarks.
You can really empathise with the characters, and yoyu have a real sense of the contempt they have for the Nazi regime (the writer was a naval correspondent who served abord a U-boat, though this is a highly factual piece of fiction), who regularly make anti-Nazi comments, or snide remarks about "Loudmouth Goering", contrasted with the "Hitler Youth leaders", the young rabid Nazis they send aboard, usually seen with a universal sense of contempt by all officers aboard, again contrasted with the apathy of the enlistred men.
You will fall in love with the captain, the "Old Man", who's judgement is universally trusted, as is the chief, the hardened warriors seeing themselves as doing their duty.
This is a powerful anti-war story, which is slightly different from the film, with more action, and more squalid boredom common aboard submarines, and the terrible, poignant anticlimax will leave you a sense of contempt for the fuutility of war.
