My reading had made me think that from the Skipjack onwards, US SSNs got larger with no real increase in reactor power, so each successive class was more accomplished and stealthy, but a knot or two slower. Then when you hit the Los Angeles they also go backwards on depth to save cash and you end up with a quieter, slower, shallower diving sub. I dont think there's a lot in it, but until the hugely expensive Seawolf it's all backwards. On the Soviet side the only thing they didn't compromise on in their designs was speed and diving depth.
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