Considering how good the SJ and SD radars the Gatos used was,plus the 10 torp tubes I think the Gato/Balaos would have given the British fits. Plus the fact that the US sub service was excellant at developing sub tactics on the fly. They may have suffered serious losses early on...but they would have found a way to neutralize any advantage the Brits might have had.
The crews on US boats were generally better trained than their German counterparts. And I believe they also underwent mental tests to make sure they were suited to sub duty. Not sure if the Germans did that.
As for saying that the US navy started the war with more subs than Germany had in 1939...that is a moot point. They may have had more subs,but many of them were stationed in the Atlantic when the war began and others were undergoing maintanance.
And as for the constant denigration of Japanese ASW efforts,tell it to the boys who didn't make it home. You make it sound like only incompetent crews could have possibly been sunk by the Japanese. In a way,I find that to be rather insulting.
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