Indeed - that's something I learned from U-571 too. Previously, I thought that a ship attacking a submarine should approach from the side and weave about a bit, but I was wrong.
I was also surprised to learn that a deck gun crew (operating an unfamiliar gun) were (a) invisible to the enemy, even with the gun manned and trained on the enemy vessel; and (b) had an amazing ability to target the radio mast of a ship without trial and error. They were clever people!
One of the extra features on the DVD is a US sub guy explaining the the film is realistic in that all subs are basically the same, so there's no problem quickly manning and operating a sub you've never seen before. I wonder what he was paid to say that, or what substances he was on at the time. Or both.
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