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

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 branches, along with th ...

''. It concerns a

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

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 Allied naval blocka ...

and was produced by

UFA Ufa ( ba, Өфө , Öfö; russian: Уфа́, r=Ufá, p=ʊˈfa) is the largest city and capital of Bashkortostan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Belaya and Ufa rivers, in the centre-north of Bashkortostan, on hills forming the ...

. The

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

Operation Drumbeat The "Second Happy Time" (; officially Operation Paukenschlag ("Operation Drumbeat"), 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 att ...

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 family 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 United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

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 th ...

Kapitänleutnant ''Kapitänleutnant'', short: KptLt/in lists: KL, ( en, captain lieutenant) is an officer grade of the captains' military hierarchy group () of the German Bundeswehr. The rank is rated OF-2 in NATO, and equivalent to Hauptmann in the Heer an ...

Hoffmeister *

Heinz Engelmann Heinz Engelmann (1911–1996) was a German film actor. He was married to the actress Gertrud Meyen. Selected filmography * ''D III 88'' (1939) * '' Drei Unteroffiziere'' (1939) * '' Congo Express'' (1939) * '' The Girl at the Reception'' (1940) * ...

as Olt. zur See Wiegand *

Joachim Brennecke Joachim Brennecke (6 December 1919 – 6 September 2011) was a German 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''.Kreimeier p.347 Selected filmogra ...

as Lt. zur See v. Benedict * Ernst Wilhelm Borchert as Olt. Griesbach * Karl John as Matr. Ob. Gefr. Drewitz *

Clemens Hasse Clemens Hasse (13 April 1908 – 28 July 1959) was a German actor and synchroniser. Biography Hasse was born in Königsberg, East Prussia to a public official and attended his stage education at the ''Preussisches Staatstheater'' in Berlin. Be ...

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

Karl Dönitz Karl Dönitz (sometimes spelled Doenitz; ; 16 September 1891 24 December 1980) was a Nazi Germany, German admiral who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state in May 1945, holding the position until the dissolution of the Flensburg Gov ...

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 two different offences. An indictment may contain more than one count, but each count must allege only one offence, so that the defendant (and the ...

. It 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 {{WWII-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Motifs

See also

References

External links