Sub movement is [logical fallacy].
But it's not really in this case..
Running a WWII diesel sub under water is no small deal. When submerged, the air-breathing diesel engines are shut off and the sub runs on electric motors and batteries. The sub runs at considerably less than half the surface speed while submerged, and can only do so for maybe a hundred miles before the batteries are fully exhausted. The sub must then resurface to start the diesels to run the generators in order to recharge the batteries, which took a long time to charge. Even if they decided to submerge, the fact is that they would have had to surface a considerable amount of time anyway. If you're in a hurry to get somewhere in a VII U-Boat, you don't want to be submerged.
The tramp steamer that Indy and Marion took with the Ark was not a government or corporation vessel; it was a privately owned ship run by a crew that was described in the movie as "pirates". Who would they call, and for what reason? Even if anyone responded, the sub would be long gone. I doubt the arrogant Nazis feared anyone at that point.
The only time they would have been concerned about being spotted on the surface was near the entrance to the sub base. With no aircraft around, they could stay surfaced or, if they were extra careful or paranoid, dive to periscope depth for the last couple of miles. It wouldn't have been fun, but at the slow underwater speed of a VII U-Boat, Indy could survive by holding on to the periscope.
The most likely scenario is that, given the circumstances of the trip, the sub would have stayed on the surface unless attacked or unless it was going to attack another armed vessel.
Now if there was a plot device where the sub was forced to dive below periscope depth and Indy showed up alive later, then we'd have to call Houston.
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Strazdas (2328)
5 years ago
Thats fair enough on the U-Boat, which certainly would encourage them to stay above water.
The tramp steamer captain has informed Indy that he has "already contacted the american friends" when they were being boarded. They were clearly guys hired by the american letter agency to help Indy get the cargo out.
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Karl Aksel (1451)
4 years ago
Except that the captain actually gives the order to dive: "Tauchen. Tauchen das Boot." ("Dive. Dive the boat."). The order is repeated by the crew, which shows that they have heard and understood the order.
And in any case, uboats would perform at least one trim dive each day, to make sure the ballast tanks contained water of the same density as the surrounding body of water. And when surfaced, there would be 2-4 crew members as lookouts topside. The only reason why there were exactly zero crew topside when we see Indy on the uboat, is that they were preparing to dive.
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The LA Baker (799)
2 years ago
Maybe it cruised at periscope depth with the scope raised and Indy hung on for dear life from the periscope. Perhaps using his whip as an aid.
Far fetched, but that is kinda Indy's schtick.
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Karl Aksel (1451)
2 years ago
That is what Spielberg initially intended, and they even started shooting that scene. I guess he decided to omit it because of how ridiculous it is, and just let it go unexplained instead.
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