As the others have pointed out the living conditions on a U-boat were less than posh.

The toilet was a relatively complex device. After flushing the sewage was stored onboard, and then flushed overboard - this required closing the valve to the actual head, and then opening one from the sewage tank to the sea, and then pressurizing it overboard. This could not be done at great depth, nor was it done casually, as it could reveal ones position. Often it was dumped upon surfacing for recharge. If the wind was not favorable a temporary turn could be made less everyone inhale the stench.

Training in toilet operation was one of the initiation ceremonies into the sub service. All newcomers generally needed a bit of help, and more than a few got baptized into the service by a facefull of their own thrown in their faces. This would happen if you accidentally opened up the valve to the outside seawater - which has some pressure behind it - before closing the valve to the toilet, a common greenie mistake. The water pressure forced the sewage back out the toilet, sometimes with considerable force. Since in many subs the valves were located low down the operator was usually kneeling in front of the commode when this happened. One U-boat was lost when someone made this mistake - so much sea water flooded in that it spilled into the forward battery. The ensuing chlorine gas forced them to the surface too close to the enemy to recover.

Bathing was not often done. The sub quickly filled with the odor of rotting food, old clothes, stinking bodies, diesel fumes, and, on the stormy seas, vomit. Fresh water was in short supply for bathing, as priority was given to the batteries.

Many submariners deliberately avoided shaving, as the rumpled, unkempt look of officer and enlisted alike was part of the egalitarian, informal charm of the close, teamwork environment of the sub service.

Later US boats had water condensers that allowed baths once a week or so - absolutely posh by VIIC standards.

Also add that subs were very humid, with condensation constantly on the hulls. Subs in tropical locations were ovens with everyone sweating like pigs, and, artic ones freezing, with everyone layering up in the same clothes for weeks on end.

Once the U-boats lost sanctuary from allied air power, some basic amenities of life had to be done away with. Before this, surface baths, and even swimming parties, were had in \'quiet\' sectors, but not in the later years. When the schnorkel appeared, life became even more difficult. The early schnorkels often filled the boat with fumes, and occasionally sucked the air from inside the boat, causing ear popping, or worse.

Garbage like food scraps was thrown overboard in weighted sacks during surface battery charges. Once schnorkeling came, this was not possible, and garbage like food refuse, piled up inside the boat and rotted. Schnorkeling in a VIIC was more survivable, but it was not pleasant.

After the war, when US boats were adapted with schnorkels, special trash airlocks were installed that allowed garbage to be ejected while underwater.