I really wish people would read a serious technical history of conventionally-powered US submarines before indulging in these debates. John Alden's
The Fleet Submarines in the United States Navy or Norman Friedman's
US Submarines Through 1945 would do just fine.
Seriously, the level of ignorance I see in these sort of threads boggles my mind. A lot of people seem unwilling or unable to understand the basic tenets and trade offs of submarine design. Forget surface speed, habitability, underwater endurance, armament, sonar and radio outfit, range, diving depth, or reserve buoyancy. There will always be those who think that the ability to dive deep was the
only important factor in submarine design prior to the
Nautilus.
