One of the big reasons the Japanese didn't have a happy time with America was the fact that sinking merchants was considered to be of lesser importance than sinking larger warships. Japanese captains were told they could only fire a single torpedo at a merchant or destroyer, no more! (doubt they would need more than one of there torpedos, as they worked better than the U.S. ones!)
If they had been let loose on merchants and told to concentrate on convoys it would have cost America far more than it did and may have extended them war for a year or two more.
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