When they filmed Das Boot, the intention was to make both a miniseries to be shown on television and a shorter film version for a theatrical release.
What you saw may have been the original theatrical release, which came out in 1981 (1982 in the US) and ran about 2 1/2 hours. IIRC it was shorter than director Wolfgang Petersen wanted, but was cut down to emphasize the "action" over other elements of the story.
The uncut miniseries version that was eventually shown on television runs about 5 hours.
Director Wolfgang Peterson also cut a second shorter version, the so-called Director's Cut, which was released theatrically in 1997 and runs about 3 1/2 hours.
Both the Director's Cut and the uncut 5 hour versions are now available on DVD - I don't think the original shorter film version has ever been released on DVD but some folks no doubt still have it on VHS.
If you have only seen the 2 1/2 hour version, you have only seen about half of the Das Boot available to be seen. The Director's Cut is readily available as a rental from Netflix and most decent brick & mortar places should have a copy. The uncut 5 hour version... well, if you're in the US you'll probably have to buy it or borrow it from someone who already has it. I got a copy from Amazon and it wasn't that bad, $35-40 IIRC.
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