U-Boat Lookout of U-177

Keeping lookout was one of the most demanding and important jobs aboard a U-boat. No matter what conditions prevailed, men were expected to stand for a period of four hours at a time on the top of the conning tower scouring the horizon for enemy ships - the side that saw the enemy first was the more likely to survive! This remarkable and unique set of color photographs were taken aboard U-177, a very long-range boat on Type IXD2 under Korvettenkapitän Robert Gysae. It operated in the South Atlantic at the same time as U-178 was close by in the Indian Ocean. The circular device in the bottom photo is a repeater from the gyrocompass

Source :
Book "Wolfpacks At War: The U-Boat Experience In WWII" by Jak Mallmann Showell