My source for the restriction is note 67 on page 203 of Dr. Ph. M. Bosscher's "De Koninklijke Marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, deel 2" ("The Royal Netherlands Navy in WW2, volume 2). This refers to Hezlet's "Submarine and Sea Power", page 212, where it is mentioned that US submarines operating in NEI waters in February 1942 were, in principle, not allowed to attack in areas where the water depth was less than 90 metres (the 60 was a typo errror), or approx. 300 feet, and were preferably not to attack at "close range" if the target was escorted. It may well have been a restriction that applied ONLY to submarines of the Asiatic Fleet, originating from that fleet's HQ. Since the Asiatic Fleet is largely forgotten, it is not surprising that this order's existence is not widely known- I didn't know of it until I read the note in Bosscher's book.
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