charges dropped by the British destroyer west of the Orkney Islands with the loss of all hands, (42 dead). In popular culture In the 1953 film The Cruel Sea U53 was the last (of two) submarine the crew of the fictitious frigate HMS Saltash Castle sank. In the film Eye of the Needle U-53 is the escape U-boat of the Needle (played by Donald Sutherland) waiting offshore. This is supposed to happen in 1944 in the timeline of the film. In the 1958 film I Was Monty's Double U-53 is the U-boat which drops off the German commandos attempting to kidnap who they think is General Montgomery (actually his double played by M.E. Clifton James). In the 1959 British comedy film Don't Panic Chaps U-53 is depicted as the submarine that surfaces to pick up the "stranded" German forces on an unnamed Adriatic Island. Summary of raiding history References Bibliography External links German Type VIIB submarines World War II submarines of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1939 ships U-boats commissioned in 1939 Ships built in Kiel Ships lost with all hands U-boats sunk in 1940 U-boats sunk by British warships U-boats sunk by depth charges Maritime incidents in February 1940