[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Peto

Decided I'd throw a couple pennies in to this discussion... I've watched the debate over which nation had the best subs in WWII with a mix of interest and amusement and kept my opinions to myself. I still will (sort of) and let history decide which sub classes were the best design.

After WWII--Russia, UK and the USA split up the uboats so they could check them out. They each received fully oprational boats of various types. The types were all tested, dissected, put back together and tested again. So--the real question is--what boat type had the greatest longevity after the war? The boat that remained in operational use by the most fleets would inherintly indicate that it was the best design. Those that were "retired" the soonest would be indicative of being the most flawed/limited.

The winner is? Balao and Gato classes. They were still operational well into the 60's. Stream-lined and with snorts added, they could do everything any other boat of WWII was capable of. It wasn't done in WWII because it wasn't nessecary for their success. They didn't dive so deep mainly because they didn't have to (which doesn't mean they couldn't). And diving deep is worth very little if there is still a hunter right above you that you can't escape from...

History reveals the winner.

Don't forget the Tench Class