Das Boot (novel)

Before he wrote Das Boot, the short story was called Die Eichenlaubfahrt, (or Oak Leaves Patrol).

Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock was awarded the Knight's Cross with oak leaves, thus the title of the short story.

The officers talk about the Hotel Majestic near the Saint-Nazaire submarine base, a real place, a U-boat hang out.

Life on the U-Boat is discussed: rules, dress code, drinking, and the tight confines on the submarine with 50 men.

Das Boot described life on board in storms, idleness, attacks on ships, moral dilemmas to rescue or not, and hours of depth charge to avoid destroyers.

The submarine is damaged and needs to return to port, but is ordered to pass the dangerous Strait of Gibraltar and operate in the Mediterranean Sea.

The United Kingdom edition was translated into British English by John Brownjohn and published by HarperCollins in 1974.

The book was the basis of the 1981 West German war film Das Boot, written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, and Klaus Wennemann.

[16][17] Buchheim subsequently published Die Festung (1995), an immediate sequel to Das Boot, and Der Abschied [de], set after the war.