This is the story of 42 raw recruits caught up in a war they didn't understand, and the Captain who must lead them in their struggle to survive. Das Boot ist die Verfilmung des gleichnamigen Romans von Lothar-Günther Buchheim unter der Regie von Wolfgang Petersen. Das Boot ("The Boat", German pronunciation: [das ˈboːt]) is a 1981 feature film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, adapted from a novel of the same name by Lothar-Günther Buchheim. Hans-Joachim Krug, former first officer on U-219, served as a consultant, as did Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, the captain of the real U-96. The film is the story of a single patrol of one World War II U-boat, U-96, and its crew. It depicts both the excitement of battle and the tedium of the fruitless hunt, and shows the men serving aboard U-boats as ordinary individuals with a desire to do their best for their comrades and their country. The story is based on an amalgamation of the exploits of the real U-96, a Type VIIC-class U-boat commanded by Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, one of Germany's top U-boat "tonnage aces" during the war.