U47 - Kapitänleutnant Prien 1958

The film opens shortly after the outbreak of World War II, following Kapitän Günther Prien as he commands U-47 and carries out a daring infiltration of the Royal Navy’s main base at Scapa Flow, a mission that earns him a hero’s welcome upon his return.

Following these events, Pfarrer Kille, a former schoolmate of Prien, steps forward offering refuge to victims of Nazi oppression. Prien initially resists, insisting he is a soldier, not a politician. An attempt by Kille’s sister, Alwine Kille, who is engaged to Prien’s first officer Oberleutnant Thomas Birkeneck, to persuade him also fails.

As the war wears on, Prien wrestles with a gnawing conscience, wondering whether his stance is truly righteous. A tense incident follows the sinking of a freighter, when U‑47 rescues two survivors who turn out to be German refugees trying to flee their homeland; rather than return to Germany, they choose life at sea.

Believing that his public visibility could be used for good, Prien decides to help the imprisoned Pfarrer Kille in a move that signals his potential to influence more than just naval outcomes. The conversation is monitored, drawing the attention of the Gestapo.

The visit yields no immediate consequences for Prien, but fate is not kind. U‑47 goes on a subsequent patrol and is sunk, with Prien and his cook, Der Smut, rescued by a British ship. That ship is then sunk by a German submarine under the command of Prien’s former first officer, Birkeneck; the moment when Birkeneck retrieves Prien’s hat from the sea shocks him and foreshadows a fatal breakdown in command as he fails to order a dive in time, leaving his submarine to be destroyed by attacking enemy aircraft.