In Enemy Hands aka "U-Boat", is a World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 submarine film

Submarine film

This article is about war films to do with the naval craft. For the 2010 film, Submarine, see: Submarine .Submarine films are a subgenre of war film in which the majority of the plot revolves around a submarine below the ocean's surface...

 released in 2004, starring William H. Macy

William H. Macy

William Hall Macy, Jr. is an American actor and writer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Jerry Lundegaard in Fargo. He is also a teacher and director in theater, film and television. His film career has been built mostly on his appearances in small, independent films, though...

.

Plot

Macy stars as the COB (chief of the boat

Chief of the boat

Chief of the Boat is an enlisted sailor on board a U.S. Navy submarine or Cyclone Class Coastal Patrol Ships, who serves as the senior enlisted advisor to the commanding officer and executive officer, and assists with matters regarding the good order and discipline of the crew. The Chief of the...

) on a fictitious US Navy submarine, the USS Swordfish

USS Swordfish (SS-193)

USS Swordfish , a Sargo-class submarine, was the first submarine of the United States Navy named for the swordfish, a large fish with a long, swordlike beak and a high dorsal fin...

 (although there was an actual USS Swordfish

USS Swordfish

Two submarines of the United States Navy have been named USS Swordfish after the swordfish, a large fish with a long, swordlike beak and a high dorsal fin....

 that served the US Navy in World War II, it is not the same one depicted in this film). While on patrol in the North Atlantic, the ship is ambushed by two German U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s. Swordfish destroys one of them, but a torpedo fired from the second one, the fictitious German submarine U-429

Unterseeboot 429

German submarine U-429 was a Type VIIC U-boat of the German Kriegsmarine originally built for the Italian Regia Marina during World War II. Her keel was laid down on 14 September 1942 by Danziger Werft of Danzig...

, critically damages the American submarine. Eight members of the American crew escape and are held prisoner by U-429. However, the American executive officer had previously contracted meningitis

Meningitis

Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges. The inflammation may be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms, and less commonly by certain drugs...

 given it to the captain, who brought it on board the U-429. Within days, over half the German crew, as well as some of the Americans contract the disease and die. Although the Germans and Americans begin to work together to keep the boat operational, another U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

 and an American destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

threatens to overwhelm their tentative truce.

Alternate titles

• When film was shown on Albanian TV, film was named "Underwater Prison" and in some TV schedules "U-429: Underwater Prison".