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It is possible that Below is loosely based on what is called the "ghost of SM UB 65," a Type UB III U-boat used by the Imperial German Navy during WWI. It was a successful boat that sank six merchant ships and damaging more than six more until it was lost off Padstow, Cornwall in July 1918 and all crew members were lost. Though the idea of a haunted ship, which is what a submarine type vessel was usually called, may have been more of a legend created by a journalist around the same time as the ship sank. It was said to have been haunted by the second officer, Lt. Richter who was killed when a torpedo exploded early in the U-boat's career. It was plagued with disasters such as three crew members died from asphyxiation by diesel fumes in the engine room and two other crew members were crushed by a falling girder. Another crew member was swept overboard when inspecting the hatches and never seen again. News of these incidents spread even though it had been tested for seaworthiness. During he first test dive, a ballast tank fractured causing it to sink to the bottom of the sea and while the crew lacked the means to renew the oxygen, they finally manged to raise it to the surface after 12 hours. It became known as cursed and no one wanted to board or be stationed on it and was believed to have had a priest exorcise the ship. It went down in July 1918 off the shore of Cornwall witnessed by an American officer where he allegedly said that he thought he saw someone on the deck just before it went down, a German officer wearing the Naval overcoat and standing near the bow with folded arms and was believed to be Lt. Richter. It was speculated that the rumors of the haunting was the invention of a journalist, Hector C. Bywater as Naval men tend to be more superstitious and also given the time this was to have occurred. However, some of the "events" rumored to have taken place are very similar to the events in the movie.