History Film / U571

** The events in the movie are only ''slightly'' more similar to the story of U-505's capture. It was indeed taken by Americans, after they intercepted and decrypted German transmission indicating that there is a U-boat near Cape Verde. But even there, the submarine in question was attacked, forced to resurface and then abandoned by her crew. There was no convoluted plan about posing as German sailors, no shootout aboard, nor evading any pursuit. There was, however, a desperate effort to keep the U-boat from sinking after her crew opened valves and sabotaged fittings, and then the arduous voyage under tow back to Bermuda, while trying to keep the capture a secret from the Germans.

** The events in the movie are only ''slightly'' more similar to the story of U-505's capture. It was indeed taken by Americans, after they intercepted and decrypted German transmission indicating that there is a U-boat near Cape Verde. But even there, the submarine in question was attacked, forced to resurface and then abandoned by her crew. There was no convoluted plan about posing as German sailors, no shootout aboard, nor evading any pursuit.
* HotSubOnSubAction: The German boat that sinks the American sub is stated as being a resupply boat. The Type XIV "Milchkuh" (or "milk cow") did not even have torpedo tubes. In addition, during the entire war, there is exactly ''one'' recorded instance of a submarine being sunk by another with torpedoes.

* JustPlaneWrong: The German fighter appears to be a Messerschmidt Bf 109, which had nowhere near the range to patrol the middle of the Atlantic.

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* SinkTheLifeBoats: [[KickTheDog To prove how evil the German U-boat crew is.]] In reality, out of the tens of thousands of hours logged by the U-boat Force, there is only one recorded incident of a crew attacking survivors. It was much more common for German submariners to provide aid to the crews they sank.

* SomoneHasToDie: The climax of the film and the moment Tyler's development comes to a head. The Sub can't fire it's torpedo unless a critical repair is made in an area that's underwater and filled with debris, so attempt to repair it will almost certainly mean the crewman's death. Worse the "someone" is already selected by necessity. Tank, the guy who's job it should be to fix it can't fit through all the debris and of the rest of the crew only Rabbit and Trigger are small enough to fit and Rabbit is their torpedo guy and needed at his post which means Trigger is the only option and Tyler needs to order him to certain death despite Trigger's terror and reluctance. Trigger pulls it off but drowns in the hold as everyone expected.

* AFatherToHisMen: Tyler who's good buddies with his fellow officers, an older brother figure to the enlisted, has a good respected advisor in the Chief's and in an era when the military was still heavily segregated even the black mess workers are comfortable enough around to have a smoke with. He says he'd give his life for anyone on the sub and is notably crushed when they take their first casualty. This is actually why he's turned down from command at first as that kind of mentality is great for an XO who's the bridge between the Captain and the rest of the crew but not necessarily for a Captain who has to remain detached enough to order the crew into potential situations where they might lose their lives.

* OhCrap: Emmett when the German resupply submarine launches a torpedo at the S-33.

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