The book is fiction based on what the author has experienced as a war reporter on board of the U 96.
I have read somewhere that during the patrol of U 96 that Buchheim had joined they did not sink any ships, it was an uneventful patrol, except that one day they actually went down to the bottom by accident, but at a depth of 60 - 90 meters, something like that, and had to work their way up again.
Also, there were no longer rivets in WW II German u-boats, that was WW I.
So no exploding rivets, the director said they used that as a dramatic effect for more suspense well knowing that it lacks historical accuracy.
Read the book "Das Boot", it is even better.
__________________
|