In RL, if a boat suffered significant damage ( of any kind ) the only decision facing the commander was which friendly port to head for, or which did he stand the best chance of reaching. Sometimes it had to be the closest, but that port may not have had the necessary facilities and skilled workforce to effect anything but basic "patching" repairs. These would hopefully get the boat back to its home port, or another which was geared up for repairing submarines. If it did make it to such a base, the patrol ended, the crew went on leave and the boat went in for extensive repairs and a full re-fit. This could take months - certainly weeks.
If the port the boat limped into couldn't even effect repairs sufficient to get it to a submarine base the crew would be shipped to their home port and their boat would probably be scavenged for parts and scrapped.
Whatever, once a boat incurred significant damage the patrol was over. Even after successful patrols when boats came back unscathed, they went in for a full re-fit before going out on patrol again. Hence the often long gaps between patrols.
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