Well, since we've wandered off into the woods somewhere (no offense taken, btw) I suppose I'll throw my hat into the ring as well.
We like to think that war has rules, and that those rules can be enforced. We like to think that, even in times of war, there is such a thing as right and wrong. Take the absurdity of the Prize Rules, as just one example. It's been pointed out already that both sides "broke the rules" in one way or another, and before long virtually every ship headed for England was a "valid target" because the reality was that every ship headed for England HAD to carry supplies/munitions/troops/whatever in order to keep the country afloat. The rules sounded nice on paper, but as soon as war broke out they were worthless. Reality just doesn't work that way.
The only thing common to every human armed conflict is death. Death of military men and women, which is often seen as acceptable on some level, and the death of civilians, which is generally considered barbaric and sub-human.
War is essentially an effort to carve out an exception to one of the fundamental civil principles of any developed nation: the prohibition of murder.
In that light no nation is innocent, no one wins or loses, and there are no "good" and "bad" sides. WWII is difficult, I think, because history and humanity have so clearly come down against what Hitler attempted to do. It's easy to see the allies as good and the Nazis as evil. Mind you, I'm not for one second suggesting that we're too hard on Nazi Germany, but the bipolar good/evil scenario is far too oversimplified. Das Boot, Saving Private Ryan, and any good documentary on WWII will show you that.
I've come to believe that if thinking about the reality of war (be it the specifics of the battle of the Atlantic, or war in general) doesn't make you squirm in your seat a little for want of a "cleaner set of rules" then you're not really paying attention.
As for the game, I play because a submarine is the ultimate strategy simulation, and is the polar opposite of the first person shooters that saturate the gaming market. I find the Pacific theater "boring" for reasons I can't put my finger on, so that leaves German U-Boats as the ideal sub sim. As a game mechanic, it's also convenient that things got more difficult for U-Boat captains as the war went on, allowing the player to gain and use skills in the game while maintaining a natural sense of historical accuracy.
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