Really? I always thought carbon dioxide, unlike carbon monoxide, wasn't really a poison - you just can't breath it. It's an inert gas. As we breath in O2, we breathe out CO2. Not having oxygen to breath is a definite problem. Also, in a truly sealed room like a submarine, unless there's some way to reconvert the oxygen, you have about 48 hours' worth, and that's it. Of course my memory is of things I refused to learn 40 years ago, so that's what it's worth.
As for the original question, they did have emergency masks with air for some time, but they were meant for escaping from the boat, not surviving inside for extended periods.
As for food, crew starvation was NOT a real problem, at least for u-boats. I've never read a report of a submarine crew starving, or even coming close.
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