The Balao in real life was "Commissioned" on 4th Feb 1943 on the east coast of the US. She then had to be fitted-out, shakedown cruises, for training, etc., so didn't arrive in Brisbane Australia until August of 1943, with others of the class following behind, and Pearl and Fremantle not getting any until in September 1943. In the Stock game, they have the boat arriving and available in Fremantle 1st August 1943... However, there is no career start until 15th January, 1944, and then only at Pearl. So you either start at Pearl on that date, and then transfer to Fremantle, or you start in 1943 in a Tambor or Gar, and hope for an upgrade to the Balao... not easy to do. Some of the major mods make it a bit easy to get into one...
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