Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish40
The newer breed of larger, long range US Submarines were referred to as "Fleet Boats". The exact reason for the term, I'm not sure of that.
|
They were designed to operate with, and as scouts for, the battle fleet. They were long-range, with the speed to keep up with the large surface battlewagons. Hence, "Fleet Boats".
Once the war started, that idea got thrown out rather quickly. Seeing as the U.S. battle fleet was sitting in the mud of Pearl Harbor, there wasn't really a fleet for them to scout for.
Edit:
Yeah, what he said.