Quote:
Originally Posted by CCIP
Well, they're also just bigger - the bigger the boat, the more difficult it is to get under (at least if you keep in mind that all boats of the era were trimmed primarily for surface cruising)  The largest U-boats (IXDs) were 1800t submerged, while even the smallest fleet boats (P class) are 1960t submerged, and the Gatos are over 2400t. The Type VII is a puny 850t by comparison.
For their size, the fleet boats actually did really good. They improved their diving performance by a lot over the course of the war, and if you're playing TMO - look out for those crew skills that might help cut diving times. In many cases it really was the crews knowledge of the boats that allowed them to get under quickly. Don't expect anything much faster than 40 seconds though!
[edit] funny how Ducimius just said what I was thinking! |
I think many people forget the effect that the subs size had on crew comfort.Most US classes where fairly comfortable and also had A/C and refrigeration for food stores that does not sound like much in a combat setting but these little things lower the amount and time it takes for the crew to get fatigued and a lees fatigued crew performs better.There is a fine line between a little comfort and too much but I think that the US fleet boats had it right.
Those are some pretty neat links Ducimus it must have been hard for the author to do the research considering all the variations with each general version.I see that they noted the fact that some Gato class subs revived Balao class sheers and then you have the Drum which was a Gato that needed a entire new conning tower and got a entire Balao tower.