Who had the best submarines in wwII?

[Synthfg]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

The Soviet Union had the largest sub fleet in the world when Germany attacked in 1941. Over 200 boats of various types. But they were victims of Russia's rambling geography being divided between four widely separated fleets; the Baltic, Black, Northern and Pacific. Given the Soviet Union's obvious army-centric approach, they also seem to have been poorly maintained and to have lacked sonar or modern fire control equipment. Other than the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff late in the war with heavy loss of life I can't think of too many Russian submarine successes that come to mind.

You can read about the Wilhelm Gustloff disaster here: http://www.wilhelmgustloff.com/

Think the main issue with the Soviet sub fleet is that the secrecy inherant in the communist system, combined with the traditions of the silent service means that there is very little published material on there role in the war,
There were several significant victories inclunding the Gustloff however

Does anyone here have a decent summary of soviet sub activity in the war ?