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It would have been nice to see things like crews loading torpedoes being fatigued faster than crews sitting on their butts waiting to load torpedoes. We slept at battle stations all the time between action.
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Right on!
Not too sure about subs, as I was a "rider" and worked a different watch shift, but I know on ships the crew worked port and starboard- 12 on/12 off. Unless the ship went to GQ, and then you stayed at your post until secured...it was customary to let some sailors "rack out" whenever possible, so that some stamina could be maintained. Same thing when I was flying- we'd get 14-18 hour missions at times (fuel dependent), but there was a bunk in the galley for the spare pilot to sleep, while the rest of us would take it in turns to snooze at our position- we maybe weren't at maximum efficiency, but neither were we "fatigued" to the point where performance suffered.
There's a difference between "Watchstanding" and actually doing one's assigned duties- watchstanding can be as simple as monitoring equipment, or keeping the spaces manned "just in case", as opposed to performing maintenance, operating systems, reporting contacts, etc.