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Originally Posted by seafarer
Things could have been very different for the German navy had Hitler not gone to war sooner then he had led his naval commanders to believe. In 1939, Donitz had been told by Hitler that he would not begin anything for 6 years, and that would be enough time to grow a U-Boat fleet of 300+ (mainly type VII's), and replace all of the aged type II's. Donitz planned on being able to keep 100 boats at sea at all times. As it was, Donitz went to war with only 57 boats (and only about 38 or so of those ready for war time service, including many type II's which were never designed for blue water operations).
The Royal Navy operated a lot in Norwegian waters and the med (look up the famous 10th flotilla's actions there). In the pacific a major area of operations was the Malacca Straits (between Kuala Lampur and Sumatra). More so then any other submarine force, they did a lot of covert operations (landing agents and commando's, supplying resistance forces, and keeping Malta fighting and alive), and a lot of mine laying. They lost 74 submarines during the war, about half of them to inshore mines which reflects their main deployments to near shore waters. According to the Royal Navy Submarine museum web site, they sank "2 million tons of enemy shipping and fifty seven major war vessels, including thirty five enemy submarines, by gun and torpedo".
P.S. an excerpt from wikipedia's entry for HMS Torbay, who's commander, Lieutenant Commander Miers won the VC:
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"Lieutenant Commander Anthony Cecil Chapel Miers DSO Royal Navy Whilst on patrol in HM Submarine Torbay off the Greek coast on the 4th March 1942.
Lieutenant Commander Miers sighted a northbound convoy of four troopships entering the South Corfu Channel and since they had been too far distant for him to attack initially, he decided to follow in the hope of catching them in Corfu Harbour. During the night 4/5 March, Torbay approached undetected up the channel and remained on the surface charging her battery. Unfortunately the convoy passed straight through the channel but on the morning of the 5th March, in glassy sea conditions, Miers successfully attacked two store ships present in the roadstead and then brought Torbay safely back to the open sea. The submarine endured 40 depth charges and had been in closely patrolled enemy waters for seventeen hours.[1]
Having sunk in the region of 50 ships, Torbay was reassigned to the Pacific Far East in early 1945"
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interesting story,
well, the germans had a two year head start on war,as well as the british, over the united states, how much more of an advandage can you give them,
they were veterans, the united states was green, remember casserine and new guinea?
this below is one battle of s-38, at lingayen, early in the war.
she had other battles, including bombarding enemy installations on enemy held islands,
and the picking up and rescueing of 54 british sailors, from HMS electra.
That night, she headed for Lingayen Gulf. On the morning of 22 December, she entered the gulf; and,
at 0645, she sighted an enemy convoy escorted by two destroyers. At 0710, she fired four torpedoes—all misses.
As she reloaded, the enemy destroyers closed in. Three depth charges exploded close to her. At 0758, she fired two
torpedoes at an anchored enemy cargoman. Less than a minute later, the 5445-ton Hayo Maru blew up. The enemy destroyers
again closed the submarine. Depth charges went off close aboard. From 0804 to 0930, the S-boat ran silent, using evasive
tactics. At 0930, she grounded at 80 feet, then coasted up the bank to 57 feet. The destroyers, joined by small boats,
continued the search through the day. At 2130, the hunted submarine began efforts to clear by backing. During the maneuvering,
her port propeller was damaged; but, by 2201, she was free and underway for the Hundred Islands area on the western side of the gulf.
S-38 remained there through 23 December and on 24 December, moved to the southern section of the gulf where she closed a formation of
six large auxiliaries just prior to 1130. Her presence however, was discovered. At 1152, a depth charge exploded on her port side. She
went deeper. Between 1206 and 1208, eight more exploded around her. At 1209, she stopped all motors and sank to the bottom in 180 feet
of water. The depth charging continued, but the explosions were more distant. At 1230, the submarine began to move again. At 1245, the enemy
hunters again located her and resumed depth charging. S-38 again settled to the bottom. The depth charging continued until after 1300. The search
continued until after 1800.
At 1842, the submarine got underway, heading back to the Hundred Islands area. At 2235, she surfaced to recharge her batteries. Five minutes
later, her after battery exploded. At 2304, she went ahead on her starboard engine, making her way out of Lingayen Gulf.
Soon after 0200 on 25 December, she sighted two enemy destroyers, but remained undetected. At 0346, however, she sighted a third, which sighted
her. S-38 submerged. The destroyer closed the submarine's last surface position and, at 0350, commenced depth charging. From then until after 0900,
the submarine evaded the destroyer, using her one quiet propeller. She then grounded on a steep bank at 85 feet. For the next two hours, the
destroyer circled. S-38 slid down to 200 feet, used her motor to bring herself up, then repeated the maneuver. The destroyer moved off and, at 1235,
the S-boat got underway for Manila. An hour later, she grounded, but only briefly; and, at 2145 on 26 December she entered the outer minefield at the
entrance to Manila Bay.