Ridiculous
Actually the mechanical horn on the US boat was so it could be heard on such a large vessel. It was reproduced in all the compartments, unlike the more ridiculous yelling of "Alarrrrrrrrm" by the Germans, which when yelled by the Captain on the bridge certainly was not heard by the guys in the after torpedo room. At best he yelled down a voice tube.
The U-Boats, not having trim tanks, used the stone-age method of "all hands forward" to trim down for the dive, further accentuating the need for all hands to hear the diving alarm.
Often when we say "ridiculous" we are only revealing our lack of understanding. In this case it is lack of understanding a superior method of diving a submarine.
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