Although this article is based on canonical information, the actual name of this subject is pure conjecture.
Please see the reasons for this title in the "Behind the scenes" section below, and/or the relevant discussion on the talk page.
A Nazi naval officer served aboard the U-boat Wurrfler under Captain Oskar Schomburg in 1936. That year, he served as an officer aboard the submarine as she was used by Colonel Herman Dietrich, French archaeologist René Emile Belloq and Gestapo intelligence agent Major Arnold Ernst Toht to apprehend American archaeologist Indiana Jones, bar owner Marion Ravenwood and the Ark of the Covenant aboard the pirate smuggling freighter Bantu Wind, captained by Simon Katanga.
Biography[]
The Bantu Wind[]
A German naval officer served aboard the Nazi U-boat Wurrfler under the command of Captain Oskar Schomburg in 1936. That year, after the Ark of the Covenant was found and unearthed from the Well of the Souls at Tanis outside Cairo, Egypt by American archaeologist Indiana Jones and bar owner Marion Ravenwood, stolen by Nazis led by Colonel Herman Dietrich, French archaeologist René Emile Belloq and Gestapo intelligence agent Major Arnold Ernst Toht, and then stolen back and arranged to be transported to England aboard the pirate smuggling freighter Bantu Wind by Captain Simon Katanga, the Wurrfler was used by Dietrich, Belloq and Toht to apprehend the Wind in the middle of the Aegean Sea.[1]
As Dietrich, Belloq and Toht led their men aboard the smuggling ship, Schomburg, the officer and the rest of the submarine’s original crew remained aboard the U-boat. Shortly afterwards, Belloq and Dietrich returned with the Ark and a captive Ravenwood, believing Jones to be dead, killed by Katanga, as the officer was aboard the submarine. A moment later, he informed the officer referred to by the Captain as Number One and the rest of the crew that the U-boat was ready to travel to the secret Nazi island base of Geheimhaven for the opening of the Ark, and the ship set sail. Once the submarine dove below deck, Number One looked through the ship’s periscope, before allowing the other taller officer to do the same, though neither of them noticed that Jones, still alive, had tied himself to the periscope.[1]
Once the U-boat arrived at the island base, Number One remained inside it. As Dietrich and Belloq departed and spoke in the submarine hangar, the officer and Captain Schomburg stood atop the Wurrfler's conning tower, listening to their conversation. The officer and the rest of the U-boat’s crew did not attend the ceremony opening the Ark.[1]
Behind the scenes[]
The Wurrfler officer was portrayed by an uncredited performer in Raiders of the Lost Ark, despite having a small speaking role.