[ETR3(SS)]

One thing to keep in mind when comparing German to American submarines is to not lose perspective. The USN Submarine Force was comprised primarily of long range ocean going subs that were initially designed to act as forward deployed scouts to a battleship group. Once the war broke out though, they were the only ones immediately available to take the fight to the Japanese. Doing so by using the German tactic of unrestricted submarine warfare. So the design mission changed and they were still able to carry out their new mission effectively.

Now the Germans were fighting not only in a completely different theater, but their enemies were much closer to home. Many fall into the trap of comparing the Type VII to the Gato/Balao class, it's a textbook case of apples to oranges. And by some fervent u-boat fans is used exclusively to demonstrate the u-boats superiority. If any comparison is to be made it should be strictly limited to the Type IX vs the Gato/Balao, as the Type IX was designed for power projection over a longer distance and time frame and is comparable in design mission and characteristics.

Now wikipedia is pretty good about the stats regarding the fleet boats as it references Norman Friedmans research. Not sure about the u-boat information there though.