Back in 2013, I met a wonderful gentleman named Wolfgang who was the first officer on the U-1165 which saw service between 1944 and 45, based out of Norway. The entire crew survived the war and the boat was scuttled after the war. He had many actual photographs of the boat and crew, especially the Captain & wife. Initially he was reluctant to meet & discuss that time in his long life but as we were introduced by a friend he trusted, it was agreed. I had a great discussion with him then and was it ever interesting!, actually talking to one of the few remaining U-boat sailors still alive. He was 92 and still drove and played tennis a few times a week. He spent the after war in a Canadian POW camp before being repatriated back to Germany. He liked Canada so much he immigrated back here with his new wife to Vancouver BC in the early 50's and prospered with a family. He & his wife then retired to Duncan, Vancouver Island BC where I met him. The time in the U-boat was just a tiny little part of his life, a matter of 2 years really and he was quite young. I was especially interested to know about the boat mechanics and what it was like being underwater but he could not remember it all totally, he did remember the 1 ship they sank. It was obvious he did not want to discuss Hilter or anything to do with the German system of the day though when I broached a few subjects, so I quickly stuck to the boat. He in fact was drafted in the army at 1st in 1942 without seeing any action and then applied for and was accepted into the U-boat service in 1943 & assigned to the U-1165 in '44. The boat went on only a few short term missions and only sunk 1 ship, a smaller Russian freight boat he said. He lost touch with the Capt. after the surrender. In our conversation I asked him how accurate Das Boot was? ..he said yes that movie was very much quite what it was like serving on a U-boat in world war 2. Sadly he passed away, I just learned a few years ago, his wife had passed away 5 years before when I met him. He was one of the very lucky few that beat the odds and lived a very long life when most of the U-boat men perished in the war. I was fortunate to actually talk to a survivor & see original old b&w photographs of the U-boats, not found in a museum, even more so, far from Germany. He said they were forbidden from taking them but everybody did anyway. I was able to go see U-505 in Chicago a few years ago and it is truly a "must see" for any U-boat aficionado. I had a chance to visit U-955 years ago in Laboe on a 2 week trip for a weeding in Koblenz but my wife was not keen for the side excursion so that is still on the bucket list. The museum in Chicago really is something amazing to see and the sub looks like it just came off the gangway yesterday. I am a master diver and would really love to dive a real U-boat like the one off Carolina but I am getting older and might never get that chance. According to what Wolfgang told me in person, U-boat.net totally matches U-1165 with what is listed on the U-boat site information page.