What were they eating in Das Boot?

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

Ahoy, Bubblehead1980...

From what I have gathered, what they were eating on, if I am NOT mistaken was basically what we now know of... as Spam.

No, not that scummy crud you get in your email box... but canned meat.

That they were even trying to eat it, at that point, means that obviously they had been out there for some time & were still expected to cover their assigned area.

Of course, that's just a basic stab in the dark guess.. but, am fairly confident on that being what it was... just their own version of that meaty treat.

M. M.

Does anyone know what that tough looking meat (or whatever) was that the officer was eating during the earlier dining scene in Das Boot? The meal when they were discussing him working on the plantation in Mexico. That meat looked better than Schweinskopfsülze, but tough!

And yeah it's always a hoot reading about how bad the food situation was aboard U-Boats - In one report I read, a captured Norwegian was horrified that the U-Boat's bacon ration was filled with white worms - and the crew devoured it anyway.

While researching for WWI I found out sometimes U-Boats would land in Ireland and trade items for sheep to slaughter - the fresh mutton was much preferred to the stale food on board. Not sure if this was ever done in WWII; I suppose by then with more aircraft around it was considered too hazardous.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Does anyone know what that tough looking meat (or whatever) was that the officer was eating during the earlier dining scene in Das Boot? The meal when they were discussing him working on the plantation in Mexico. That meat looked better than Schweinskopfsülze, but tough!

And yeah it's always a hoot reading about how bad the food situation was aboard U-Boats - In one report I read, a captured Norwegian was horrified that the U-Boat's bacon ration was filled with white worms - and the crew devoured it anyway.

While researching for WWI I found out sometimes U-Boats would land in Ireland and trade items for sheep to slaughter - the fresh mutton was much preferred to the stale food on board. Not sure if this was ever done in WWII; I suppose by then with more aircraft around it was considered too hazardous.

Just re watched Das Boot (this time.. was actually able to locate the Director's cut, not the release that was put out to general theaters..) Almost 4 hours long... whew... but, was enjoyable, none the less. Only complaint I had about it, was that the caption crapped out on Me a couple of times... leaving Me in the dark as to what was said. I ended up, finally locating in the captioning sources line up, a set up that didn't crap out on Me, til near the final few minutes & by then.. wasn't really any dialogue, so no bit loss.

I believe that meat, was some form of ham.. as near as I can tell, because (can't recall right off which of the others at the table, said it... though table is too generous, considering the size of it in the cramped space there. Any way, that 1 guy, makes a remark to the 1st officer of swine or pig, as I recall in asking how they liked it.. I think. Or, may have been making a wise crack about the 1st officer... as the 1WO was often referred to as being a tight arse follower of the party. Party, of course, well understood as to what is meant there.

Particular, was that scene on board the 'Wesser' when they stopped off at Vigo, to resupply to make the attempt to pass through the Strait into the Med. When the Captain of the Wesser, mistook the 1WO, as being the skipper of U-96.

M. M.

[derstosstrupp]

While they’re eating the Sülze the skipper makes the crack “Schlecht rasiert, die Biester…”, which means “these critters had a bad shave”. The book describes it better - some of the pork chunks in the Sülze still had hair on them.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Mad Mardigan

Just re watched Das Boot (this time.. was actually able to locate the Director's cut, not the release that was put out to general theaters..) Almost 4 hours long... whew... but, was enjoyable, none the less. Only complaint I had about it, was that the caption crapped out on Me a couple of times... leaving Me in the dark as to what was said. I ended up, finally locating in the captioning sources line up, a set up that didn't crap out on Me, til near the final few minutes & by then.. wasn't really any dialogue, so no bit loss.

I believe that meat, was some form of ham.. as near as I can tell, because (can't recall right off which of the others at the table, said it... though table is too generous, considering the size of it in the cramped space there. Any way, that 1 guy, makes a remark to the 1st officer of swine or pig, as I recall in asking how they liked it.. I think. Or, may have been making a wise crack about the 1st officer... as the 1WO was often referred to as being a tight arse follower of the party. Party, of course, well understood as to what is meant there.

Particular, was that scene on board the 'Wesser' when they stopped off at Vigo, to resupply to make the attempt to pass through the Strait into the Med. When the Captain of the Wesser, mistook the 1WO, as being the skipper of U-96.

M. M.

Directors Cut is my favorite version. Lol I love how they mess with the 1WO(equivalent to the XO in US subs correct?) , especially when he tells him to play "Tipperary" lol The meat they were eating though, revolting lol

The "red headed 3WO makes me laugh, reminds me of a red headed college friend lol. Thomsen and 3WO are my favorites and the Captain of course.

[d@rk51d3]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Directors Cut is my favorite version.

I love the commentary. Talking about how they produced some of the scenes, where they took Barbie dolls, and cut off their breasts so they were just like real German soldiers.

[stork100]

Yeah it's a great film, and certainly one of my favourites. And like everyone else is saying in terms of characters (and I know it comes from a book which honestly I haven't really read) I also think a significant flaw exists with the First Officer character, which everyone naturally likes to make fun of because of his obvious stereotype (being a Nazi).

I mean, as the First Officer, we would assume that this guy has had his fair share of patrols and is gearing up to take command of his own U-boat sometime soon. He does have his moments: Such as taking on the historically correct firing duty during the night time surface attack, and being ordered to 'take over' during an underwater emergency event where the Kaleun had to be elsewhere outside the control room. Notwithstanding, the character really doesn't live up to what one might expect from history, and I think that's a fundamental flaw with the script.

Furthermore, I'm thoroughly disappointed that in this aptly named thread (we are already on Page 2 here) no one has yet mentioned the single most obvious and important nutritional item to be found on a U-boat. The obligatory: U-boat Special Cocktail!

[Randomizer]

I also think a significant flaw exists with the First Officer character, which everyone naturally likes to make fun of because of his obvious stereotype (being a Nazi).

I actually disagree with this, for the most part and suggest that the 1WO is treated rather better in the movie than he was in the book.

Evil/incompetent Nazi naval characters is a pretty common trope found in Sink the Bismarck, The Enemy Below, The Sea Chase, 49th Parallel and others. CS Forrester's nasty characterization of Gunther Lutjens as a Nazi fanatic was carried over into the film, which was based on the novel of the same name. There are photos that can be found of the admiral greeting the fuhrer with the traditional naval salute with the hand to the cap rather than the Nazi arm raised heil Hitler. As Director of Naval Personnel at OKM he altered files to protect some Jewish naval officers from persecution, which is hardly something expected of a hard core Nazi. So the stereotype itself should be questioned.

Rather the 1WO in the movie is probably pretty accurately portrayed and his interactions with the crew bare none of the cartoonish, evil buffoonery found in the above films. A couple of observations:

- He's a volunteer and contrary to myth, a significant proportion of the U-Boot Waffe were conscripted or at least had been "voluntold" to join in previous postings. Anytime you have a mix of volunteers and conscripts, the latter often resent and privately mock the former. It's the nature of things.

- He's clearly competent. Three definite hits with four torpedoes in the convoy action demonstrates an ability to do his job and coolness under pressure.

- In the book, Buchheim goes out of his way to mock the 1WO for teaching the new junior engineering officer from Wolfgang Luth's Problems of Leadership lecture. This is done very low key in the movie, where it just shows another aspect of the real-world 1WO job; teaching subordinates. As an aside, Buchheim's use of the lecture in the book is actually bogus since the story takes place in November 1941 and Luth did not deliver his lecture until 1943.

- We know little of the rest of the U-96 officers. Kriechbaum and the Chief have been with the Captain forever and possibly the 2WO as well. As a Party member and volunteer, the 1WO seems to have risen pretty quickly. In the book he does not join the navy until after the war broke out and so he will have had probably less than two-years of service before being appointed 1WO. By definition this makes him inexperienced and you cannot escape the conclusion that he has advanced largely because of his politics. This would create tensions with the professional officers/senior NCOs in a manner similar to the volunteer-conscript divide.

It's a myth that Hitler's Navy was apolitical and the fact is that as the war progressed, Party membership became increasingly necessary for advancement. In 1943, when the minimum age for command of a U-Boat reduced to 21, pretty much everybody falling into that category would have been participants in the Hitler Youth and we know that a non-trivial number of them took their politics to sea with them.

So all in all, the 1WO is treated better and probably more realistically in the movie than in the book, where Buchheim uses him as a figure of fun to score political points and make Nazis seem ridiculous and fanatical. While this may be undoubtedly true for some and not a little satisfactory, it is certainly not the case for all.

-C

[iambecomelife]

Originally Posted by stork100

Yeah it's a great film, and certainly one of my favourites. And like everyone else is saying in terms of characters (and I know it comes from a book which honestly I haven't really read) I also think a significant flaw exists with the First Officer character, which everyone naturally likes to make fun of because of his obvious stereotype (being a Nazi).

I mean, as the First Officer, we would assume that this guy has had his fair share of patrols and is gearing up to take command of his own U-boat sometime soon. He does have his moments: Such as taking on the historically correct firing duty during the night time surface attack, and being ordered to 'take over' during an underwater emergency event where the Kaleun had to be elsewhere outside the control room. Notwithstanding, the character really doesn't live up to what one might expect from history, and I think that's a fundamental flaw with the script.

Furthermore, I'm thoroughly disappointed that in this aptly named thread (we are already on Page 2 here) no one has yet mentioned the single most obvious and important nutritional item to be found on a U-boat. The obligatory: U-boat Special Cocktail!

Funny you mention that....I bought some protein mills to build muscle and they taste so bad I had to make my own "Special Cocktail" with lemon juice to kill the taste...lol. No milk, though.

And thank you Mad Mardigan for the info on the other mystery meat! I read some specs on the Type XXI and apparently it would have had a large freezer to eliminate the need for eating weird/stale/preserved meats. Plus other luxuries like a shower. Too bad for the Germans it came too late!

[stork100]

Originally Posted by Randomizer

So all in all, the 1WO is treated better and probably more realistically in the movie than in the book,

Appreciate the informative observations. Interesting that the book takes on such a more embellished perspective.

[Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Bubblehead1980

Directors Cut is my favorite version. Lol I love how they mess with the 1WO(equivalent to the XO in US subs correct?) , especially when he tells him to play "Tipperary" lol The meat they were eating though, revolting lol

The "red headed 3WO makes me laugh, reminds me of a red headed college friend lol. Thomsen and 3WO are my favorites and the Captain of course.

Yes, correct. The 1WO was responsible for the surface attacks, was in charge of the torpedo attack computer on submerge attacks; I think he was also responsible for weapons "status" and at least in the film he reports that the ship is ready for patrol, so do not know if he was also responsible for supplies/provision of the boat.



The red head was the 2 WO, the third WO was the navigator, Kriechbaum. In the german navy this position was a warrant officer one.

[Mad Mardigan]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

Yes, correct. The 1WO was responsible for the surface attacks, was in charge of the torpedo attack computer on submerge attacks; I think he was also responsible for weapons "status" and at least in the film he reports that the ship is ready for patrol, so do not know if he was also responsible for supplies/provision of the boat.



The red head was the 2 WO, the third WO was the navigator, Kriechbaum. In the german navy this position was a warrant officer one.

IIrc, when they are at the night club, club... bar.. the 1wo, did indeed report the boat's readiness status... I believe. I know that was also repeated, iirc again, when the Kaleun, along with Werner, the journalist, were just about to board U-96...

[pedalboat]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

Yes, correct. The 1WO was responsible for the surface attacks, was in charge of the torpedo attack computer on submerge attacks; I think he was also responsible for weapons "status" and at least in the film he reports that the ship is ready for patrol, so do not know if he was also responsible for supplies/provision of the boat.



The red head was the 2 WO, the third WO was the navigator, Kriechbaum. In the german navy this position was a warrant officer one.

The third WO was Alfred Radermacher, 1913-1994.

https://peoplepill.com/people/alfred-radermacher

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Rhodes

Yes, correct. The 1WO was responsible for the surface attacks, was in charge of the torpedo attack computer on submerge attacks; I think he was also responsible for weapons "status" and at least in the film he reports that the ship is ready for patrol, so do not know if he was also responsible for supplies/provision of the boat.



The red head was the 2 WO, the third WO was the navigator, Kriechbaum. In the german navy this position was a warrant officer one.

Thanks for the clarification