completion a year later. By February 1942 the RAF had lost interest in the area; most of the town had already been destroyed and they did not possess large enough bombs to seriously threaten the bunker. Between February 1942 and early 1943, apart from a few American aircraft, the place was left alone. The German garrison surrendered to US forces in September 1944. They had had sufficient explosives to cripple the bunker but did not use them due to the proximity of a hospital. La Rochelle/La Pallice Only separate La Rochelle and La Pallice so they are usually considered as one port. An unnamed bunker was built at La Pallice (); it was started in April 1941. Similar building techniques to those used in St. Nazaire were employed. Due to the relative ease of construction, the main structure was ready for its first U-boats six months later. A bunkered lock was begun in June 1942. It was completed in March 1944. Scenes for the 1981 films Das Boot and Raiders of the Lost Ark were shot in La Pallice. Lorient The largest U-boat base was the Lorient Submarine Base in Brittany. Three bunkers, "Keroman I", "II" and "III", the "Scorff" bunker and two "Dom" bunkers, east and west, were all begun in 1941. Two more were in the planning stage. "Keroman I" was unique in that it required its U-boats to be "hauled out of the water, placed on a many-wheeled buggy and then transported into the bunker on a sliding bridge system." This arrangement might have been more vulnerable to air raids, but damage was minimal and it had the advantage of the U-boat not needing a dry dock. "Keroman II", being landlocked, was served by the same system. Keroman I: Keroman II: "Keroman III" was more conventional, as was the "Scorff" bunker. The two "Dom" bunkers (so-called because of their resemblance to the religious building, Dom means 'cathedral' in German) were located around a massive turntable which fed U-boats into the covered repair bays. Keroman III: Scorff: Dom (East): Dom (West): Karl Dönitz, head of the U-boat arm and later the chief of the Kriegsmarine, had his headquarters at nearby Kernevel. St-Nazaire The construction of the Saint-Nazaire submarine base was commenced in 1941, including a bunkered lock. (Elsewhere in the reference, it states that "the excavations" for the bunkered lock were begun in October 1942). The pens were