The German 1943 film Titanic is, speaking from the perspective of studying the retelling of the story of the Titanic since the actual events, a very interesting piece. Naturally, the time and circumstances in which it was made have to be kept in mind. The film is often described as a Nazi propaganda film, and while it is certainly a propaganda film made during the time of the Nazi regime, I am not so sure how much it is Nazi propaganda. Made at a time of war, the German protagonist is depicted as competent, while his English colleagues are not able to deal with the situation at hand, the juxtaposition is hardly more pronounced than in films of a similar ilk made in the UK or the USA at the time, or in many a film made during the Cold War.
Additionally, the film is, at least in part, based on Josef Pelz von Felinau's novel Titanic. Die Tragödie eines Ozeanriesen published in 1939 that featured a German Second Officer Max Dittmar-Pittmann. His presence in turn is based on the memoirs of Max Dittmar-Pittmann who claims to have been the Third Officer of the Titanic. While apparently Dittmar-Pittmann had already exposed as a fraud by 1943, the idea of a German officer aboard the Titanic had been around since 1926. This idea fit neatly into a propaganda story revolving around the Titanic tragedy.
The history of the film would make an interesting area to explore on its own, featuring the forced suicide of the first director and the fact that the film was banned a year after it was first released, this is not my aim here (I freely admit that I also would need to read up a lot more on the history myself.)
While Felinau's novel is widely known to be a source for the film, I haven't seen any mention of the fact that the slightly earlier novel Titanensturz by Robert Prechtl also provided inspiration to the film: The White Star Line's financial difficulties that J. Bruce Ismay attempts to solve by winning the Blue Ribband, the attempt of a hostile take-over of White Star Line through J. J. Astor by devaluating the shipping line's shares, both of which are the key causes for the Titanic taking a course too far north for the season and the subsequent collision with the iceberg and its fatal consequences. This plot line features strongly in both Prechtl's novel and the 1943 film. The two differ in that Prechtl has Astor come through the events a wiser person who in a clinch proves to be a hero. The 1943 film depicts Astor without redeeming features, even his marriage with Madelaine is cold and ultimately destroyed by his preoccupation with destroying Ismay and the White Star Line and his suspicion about her fidelity.
First Officer Petersen is introduced in the film with neither an explanation why he was present on the ship nor a first name. The fact that he is German is alluded to (otherwise the audience would not have known, as everybody is speaking German) and his loyalty to the White Star Line questioned.