This U-boat crewman looks thoroughly unpleased with the situation. Patrols could be anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months and during that time the crew were not able to bathe, shave or change their clothes regularly. The space to live in was small, the working condition were really bad, fumes and smog everywhere. It’s not difficult to imagine how unpleasant life would be for someone who had not taken a bath or had a proper change of clothing for six months.
However, the crew of German U-boats were treated like royalty when they docked because of the difficulty of their jobs. Upon docking, the crew filed out on shore leave and were generally given whatever they wanted while a cleaning crew scrubbed the submarine from top to bottom
