For a good part of her epic voyage, Kapitan Langsdorff of KMS Graf Spee disguised his ship with a false turret built onto the front of the bridge, and a removable false funnel (or maybe that was one of the commerce raiders). Many ships used disguises to look like what they weren't.
I think the mast idea is a good one; they either decided it wasn't worth the effort, as most U-boat commanders would probably get quite close before firing, or possibly they just never thought of it. That happens sometimes.
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