Tonnage War

[Iron Budokan]

It was all about the tonnage war in the Battle of the Atlantic. But what about the U.S. subs in the Pacific? I don't remember hearing so much about "tonnage". What were the elite skippers after: battleships, carriers, or was it merchant tonnage? Thanks! :)

[AirborneTD]

Merchant tonnage to be sure. However, they were constantly sent out after warships via Ultra intercepts. Of course, they were also used for special missions; pilot rescue, evacuations, guerilla insertions, etc.

Early on, the US command sent its boats willy nilly with poor results. Later, after they started concentrating on merchant shipping (tankers in particular), results were much better. Also, when they started prosecuting targets in strategic bottlenecks like the Luzon straights, results were profitable.

[marky]

yes indeeed

later Adm King IIRC gave the order to put Imperial Destroyers at the top of the list to shorten escort supply