It is 1942 and the German submarine fleet is heavily engaged in the so
called "Battle of the Atlantic" to harass and destroy English shipping. With
better escorts of the Destroyer Class, however, German U-Boats have begun
to take heavy losses. "Das Boot" is the story of one such U-Boat crew, with
the film examining how these submariners maintained their professionalism
as soldiers, attempted to accomplish impossible missions, while all the time
attempting to understand and obey the ideology of the government under
which they served.