Quote:
|
Deck gun was removed (and im guessing) because its wasnt very useful snorkelling, and its removal is what made room for the two extra external torpedo stores.
|
The deck gun was almost useless by 1942 except on the ultra-long range boats where ASW was almost nill. The u-boat made a lousy gun platform and the risk to the boat in a surface gun battle far outweighed any possible gain.
A bigger reason was to increase diving time and submerged speed since the deck gun vastly increased the drag on the boat as it tried to push its way through the water. In reality, any gains in this area due to deck gun removal were largely negated by the increased AA armament and the conning tower extensions needed to house it.