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Originally Posted by Respenus
UFF!!! Enought data.
There is only ONE, and only ONE advantage of U.S. subs over U-Boats.
They didn't have Bernard! 
EDIT: And let's not forget the XXI boat, which became the model for all modern subs! |
Yes, a more interesting comparison would be XXI v. Fleet boat.
The XXI had individual bunks for all crew, showers, A/C and 3 heads. Most importantly the schnorkel, active sonar, fast dive time (supposedly 25 seconds to 20m), max submerged speed of 17kts and surface range of around 24,000km @ 12kts.
Throw in the 'semi-auto' torpedo loading for the 6 bow tubes and it's clear that the XXI would've made the Atlantic a slaughter ground for Allied merchants. The impressions of commanders/crews who got to do sea trials with XXI was that they were a quantum leap in capability. Had the German's had them in numbers in 1943 things would've been VERY grim for the Allies.
The hull shape and over-all design philosophy of the XXI certainly became the model for future designs in all navies i.e. concentrating firepower forward and a teardrop hull designed with the thought that "a submarine belongs below the surface ALL the time".