" Rare WWI U-boat cutlass" Why for "U Boat"?

[Norme]

I refrained from commenting on this when it was in the "For Sale" forum, but now I guess anything goes. These boarding cutlasses were mostly carried by new recruits in the two Torpedo Divisions and are often seen in the formal photos taken on completion of what we would call basic training. I can't believe that they were ever issued to U Boat crews on active service given the confined conditions they operated in. It's possible that they were issued on ceremonial occasions, like the equally useless swords worn by their officers.
Norm