U-571 Missed the Mark
The film takes more liberties than just combining the captures of Enigma machines and using the name of a real submarine for the fictional mission. One of the main deviations from reality is which naval forces carried out the mission. The British Royal Navy captured a German submarine, the U-110, not the U.S. Navy. The mission, ‘Operation Primrose,’ captured a German Enigma machine first. Operation Primrose occurred in May 1941, months before the United States entered the war.
The Royal Canadian Navy captured another German sub, the U-744, in March 1944. The United States Navy captured its first U-boat, U-505, in June of 1944. The implication that American forces were the first to capture an Enigma machine off a German submarine upset British leadership. Labour MP Brian Jenkins called it an “affront to the memories of the British sailors who lost their lives on this action.”
