And please take "charging around on the surface" with a grain of salt. One thing you MUST pay careful attention to is fuel economy. With a fleet boat your most economical speed is 9 knots, at which speed you'll never have to worry about fuel. But go ahead full or ahead emergency all the time and you'll be out of fuel for no time. Higher throttle positions are for pursuit or escape only.
Also, don't fall for the ostrich strategy of poking along submerged all day, followed by surface travel at night. For many reasons, the ostrich strategy is foolish.
First of all it is dangerous. While you are submerged you have no awareness of airplanes at all. Especially if you use Trigger Maru Overhauled this is not a mutual condition. They will spot you and bomb you while you are completely ignorant of their existence. Even if they don't bomb you, each time you do surface, you do so blindly, risking an immediate air attack.
Secondly, it is dangerous. You deplete your batteries tremendously, running under the surface at ridiculously slow speeds. When you do surface at night, you are in no position to fight. If you develop targets you will not have the stamina to stay submerged long enough to evade. There is nothing as hazardous to your health as being forced to surface when an unfirendly DD is lurking above.
Thirdly it is dangerous. To your career. On the surface at 9 knots, especially if you use radar you can develop 10 times the targets that you can submerged at one or two knots. The number of targets developed and therefore the tonnage sunk is directly proportional to the number of square miles of ocean surface you search and the speed with which you can obtain an attack position. If you don't sink enough targets the game "offers" you retirement.
A submarine is a surface raider with the unique ability to submerge when absolutely forced to for the shortest possible time.
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