The Fleet Boat saw incremental improvements until the design jelled with the GATO's.
Having produced an effective design, why mess with it? The Gato/Tambor Fleet Boats were outstanding weapons system for the Pacific theatre and unrestricted warfare against commerce. They had excellent growth potential (something lacking in the German Type VII and IX's) and accomodated new technology and equipment with ease.
There is a certainly sameness to the Fleet Boats but that is a design strength not a weakness.
Older US designs, the R's, O's and the Bonita's were so inferior they were largely restricted to training and mostly in the Atlantic. The big V-Boats found a useful combat role even though the "U-Cruiser" doctrine that they were designed for proved a dead end. S-Boats were still useful, being about as capable as the Type VII in range and firepower so filling the numbers gap in combat. Mostly they served in the ugly areas to free up the Fleet Boats for the 'decisive' patrol zones but there were some significant exceptions to this.
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