This is one of a series of silent films made from German newsreels, and sold to the public for viewing at home on 16mm and 8mm projectors. This one shows U-boats in action, including shots of a group of U-boats in formation as they head out to sea, shots inside of the boat as it dives, and the captain lining up a torpedo strike on the periscope. At 1:43, German submarine U-41 is shown diving, a Type IXA built in 1939. At 3:07 the U-38 and U-37, are shown on the surface. At 3:26 the crew of U-38 mans a deck gun for a confrontation on the surface with an “enemy” warship as part of the exercise.

U-38 shown in the film conducted eleven patrols and sank over 30 enemy vessels. U-38 ranks as one of the most successful U-boats in World War II. U-37 sank 53 merchant ships and two warships, the British Hastings-class sloop HMS Penzance, and the French submarine Sfax in 1939-41. It was then assigned to training units until the end of the war. U-41 sank five enemy vessels, however it was sunk in 1940 by HMS Antelope.

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com