Sub Base — Docking Bay 137

A reinforced natural cavern carved into the island and flooded with seawater to form a subterranean submarine dock. The Nazi U‑boat (the Wurrfler) surfaces and moors in the water-filled basin while soldiers and officers oversee the ceremonial unloading of the Ark onto carts and its procession toward nearby tents. Flickering lights catch spray from the basin; officers (including Belloq and Shliemann) greet arrivals as Marion stumbles ashore exhausted. Indiana Jones conceals himself on the exposed periscope above, his whip nearly discovered by an observing captain — creating a humid, echoing chamber of hidden peril and military activity.

2 events

2 rich involvements

Detailed Involvements

Events with rich location context

S1E1 · RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Belloq's Public Claim — The Ark Paraded to the Tents

The vast subterranean docking bay is the event’s stage: water-filled, echoing, and engineered into a cavern where arrival, unloading, and the first public movement occur. It juxtaposes natural grandeur with militarized ceremony.

Atmosphere

Chaotic-but-controlled: busy dock noise, damp echoes, and an undercurrent of ceremonial anticipation.

Functional Role

Primary transfer point and public stage for the Ark’s arrival and initial procession.

Symbolic Significance

Embodies the militarization of the sublime — nature turned into a theater for ideological spectacle.

Access Restrictions

Restricted to base personnel and escorted officers; heavily guarded during the transfer.

Water-lapped concrete and a surfaced submarine at dock Echoing cavernous acoustics mixing machine noise and shouted orders Dim artificial lighting with wet stone reflections

S1E1 · RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Whip on the Periscope — Indy's Silent Stowaway

Docking Bay 137 — a vast, water-filled cavern reinforced by German engineers — is the central stage where the Wurrfler docks, the Ark is unloaded and the near-discovery occurs; its scale amplifies ceremony and the danger of exposure for a hidden man on the turret.

Atmosphere

Chaotically bustling with urgent, procedural activity; undercut by taut, claustrophobic tension due to the hidden threat.

Functional Role

Primary staging area for the Ark's transfer and the physical scene of Indy's concealment and near-exposure.

Symbolic Significance

Represents the industrial, militarized appropriation of sacred artifacts—the modern cavernous machinery swallowing ancient mystery.

Access Restrictions

Heavily guarded and restricted to military personnel and authorized officers; movement controlled and orderly.

Echoing water and damp stone surfaces Flickering industrial lights and shadowed recesses Clanking of carts and electric hum of mine-train cars Cigarette smoke curling above the turret

Events at This Location

Everything that happens here

S1E1 · RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Belloq's Public Claim — The Ark Paraded to the Tents

A triumphant, performative transfer: the Nazi sub docks and the Ark is unloaded onto a cart while Emile Belloq, accompanied by Shliemann and a weary Marion, forces the Ark to …

S1E1 · RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK

Whip on the Periscope — Indy's Silent Stowaway

Indy is concealed aboard the surfaced Nazi sub, clinging invisibly above the dock by winding his whip around the periscope. The cavernous base hums with the ceremonial unloading of the …