Actually May '43 is when the war ended for U-boote, after that is just 2 years crawling and limping. For all intent and purpose, the Battle of the Atlantic ended in May 1943.
Besides, the going gets tough for U-boote much sooner than that, from late 1939 most merchants are armed so the deck gun fest is quickly over, convoys are quite heavily escorted and if you attack alone, even if it's "just 1941", having 5 DDs circling above your head isn't a walk in the park.
The action in "Das Boot" is set in late 1941 and nobody would say they had it easy.
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