Could work like WWII Online is supposed to, I guess, with the subs being one-person runnable, but with 'multicrewing' available, where you can have one guy steering and doing torpedo solutions and another firing the deck gun and perhaps another manning the AA just in case there's planes about.
Generally though, I'd see an idea like this being 'one person, one sub'. If it's based on submarine warfare, though, it's gonna get boring real quick without real people running the ASW and such. If you really wanted a game like this, you'd probably have to sim destroyers, airplanes, and other platforms as well to keep in interesting. There's also the whole 'why are we sinking ships if it doesn't accomplish anything' factor, which means you need some way to win the war.
Perhaps take the WWII Online idea and instead of emphasizing land warfare, make the navy the king. Each side must advance by launching invasions (somewhat abstract to keep the emphasis on Naval stuff) of enemy islands from their own territory, and if you want to stay on the offensive, you have to keep your forward areas supplied in the face of all those rabid submariners.
When one side loses, the campaign restarts.
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Oh and what about the 'leveling' aspect. This is a basic tool of all RPG's giving one a sense of accomplishment as their charecter advances and becomes more powerfull. SH4 scratched at this with its 'renown' system but a large percentage of the MMORPG society is going to want there glowing cloak of uberness to make there sub invisible when they want. Otherwise they are going to burn out quickly. A step up from an S boat is not going to cut it.
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This is assuming we're talking about an RPG as opposed to a virtual battlefield kind of thing. As it happens though, the SH series already has upgradeable boats and crew, so that would work well as a way of improving.
Want a five-inch gun or new radar or an acoustic torpedo? Earn some renown. That's aside from the 'working for a better' boat idea, which would also be fun.
As a former EVE player, I can honestly say tinkering with my ship setups was one of my favorite aspects of the game. We could have something like that available as well...especially if we're talking about minute advantages, like a .25 knot speed advantage over a stock boat of the same class or what have you.