Who had the best submarines in wwII?

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by privateer

The better subs were the ones that made it home.
The ones that made it home were better because they came home alive.

The ones that didn't make it home were worse. For obvious reasons.


Do I win a prize?

Although this might look like strange logic on the surface, in retrospect, it is not really. Particularly this line, 'the ones that made it home'. What caused a submarine not to make it home? The submarine itself or the crew? The uboat/fleet boat is only as good as its crew. Other than that, it is a cold steel hull in the water. It knows nothing and does not think for itself. So, it is not a comparison of which boat is better. All boats are great boats in the right hands. Just like a race car can only win if manned by the correct driver. All crews were aggressive, daring and sometimes depended on luck to bring the crew and boat through. It is all about the crew that makes the machine a awesome tool for which it was made. Let's face it, throw the whole lot of us in this thread in any of the WW2 designed boats for a patrol right now, we probably would not make it out of the harbor let alone get underway from the dock. It was all about training, working as a team, thinking ahead, understanding your actions or inactions can doom/save the entire crew. The leadership in the boat had to be top notch and most if not all were. So, the TypeII, S class, up to the XXI/Tench class were all great boats if used correctly and to the best of that particular boats ability.