4. WHAT'S IN A NAME: The U-boat-- or "unterseeboot" in German-- was first used un World War I by Ger many and its ally, Austria-Hungary. German submarine warfare on merchant ships was one reason the U.S. entered the war in 1917 on the side of the Allies.
The German Navy still designates its submarines as U-boats. Their small, modern fleet of submarines are diesel-electric powered, not nuclear. I didn't know the German Navy still had U-boats.
5. U-BOATS IN POPULAR CULTURE: Feared and hunted by the Allies, U-boats and their commanders became romanticized over time, especially in the Cold War years when a rebuilt West Germany was a U.S. ally.
Among film portraying them was 1957's "The Enemy Below," in which U.S. destroyer commander Robert Mitchum and U-boat commander Kurt Jurgens are cast as noble adversaries as their vessels duel to mutual destruction.
In 1981's "Das Boot" starring Jurgen Prochow, filmmakers offered a gritty portrayal of U-boat life.
Visitors to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry can see the U-505, a U-boat captured during World War II.
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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