What is your favorite real life sub and why?

[Camaero]

I'm not talking about class, rather which particular sub's stories or actions have made it your favorite?

So far mine would have to be Wahoo. Trigger and Tang are extremely close but damn, something about the Wahoo has held me ever since I first read about her. Mush Morton was a pretty amazing guy. So whats the rest of yalls favorite?

[Frenssen]

It has to be U-96 because of the book and the movie Das Boot. It also survived the war until it was bombed in April 45.

[AntEater]

Well, in WW2 either SM U.21 (Hersing) or austrian U.14 (Trapp)
Hersing was just the classical submarine hero, basically "saving" the dardanelles by sinking HMS Triumph and Majestic and even diving beneath sinking Triumph to escape destroyers.
Also, U.21 was the first ship to sink another ship by torpedo, when it sank HMS Pathfinder.
Unusually, Hersing, U.21 and most of the crew stayed together until August 1918. U.21 sank two Battleships, two cruisers and 36 merchantmen.
I hate "sound of music", but Trapp still was IMHO one of the best submarine skippers ever. U.14 was an interesting boat (french boat captured while trying to sneak into Pola) and Trapp surely made good use of it. U.14 (ex Curie) was the highest scoring french sub in WW1, and maybe the highest scoring french sub ever. Unfortunately after it was captured by the enemies of France :P

In WW2, of course U 48. It was apparently such a good crew that no matter what incompetent skipper (Rösing? Bleichrodt?) you put in command, he still produced results.
And of course U 123, on of the most successful IXs and the luckiest for sure, as it survived the war.
Regarding US boats, look at my signature...
Seriously, my US favorite is USS Silversides, as Creed Burlingame simply was a cool guy

Apart from that, I like the second obscurest sub in WW2, the HRMS Delfinul, the only sub of the royal rumanian navy. Ten war patrols in the black sea, a single torpedo attack (which missed).
The most obscure are the Thai subs, I havent been able to find out anything about them.

Postwar, my favorite is Wilhelm Bauer, the R&D sub of the german navy, the only preserved type XXI.
And of course any of the new HDW fuel cell submarines.

[Sailor Steve]

USS Triton (SSN-586), 'cause she sailed around the world - underwater! And under the command of the legendary Captain Edward L. Beach!
http://www.answers.com/topic/uss-triton-ssrn-586
http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn586.htm

[Letum]

No suprise....
U-69
It is the most over looked u-boot!

It was the first VIIC boat and it story is fascinating and as well written as Das Boot.
But dont take it from me, hear it from her Klauen's words.

[Polak]

For me, it is the WW2 version of "ORP Orze³"(ORP Eagle).
Incredible story from the begining to the end.
Everything started with "Operation Worek", which was followed up by the incredible escape from Tallin to England without seacharts. "ORP Orze³" also torpedoed the German transport ship Rio de Janeiro thus unfolding the invasion on Norway.
She was later lost with all hands, it's still unknow until today how and where she was lost.

If someone would like to know more about "ORP Eagle" I recommend this webpage: http://www.orzel.one.pl/viewpage.php?page_id=25

[Onkel Neal]

Good question!! So many great subs, it's very hard to choose.
Nautilus, Cavalla, U-99, Triton, Harder, Texas, Tang, U-552,...

I would have to join the herd and say Wahoo.

[kiwi_2005]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

USS Triton (SSN-586), 'cause she sailed around the world - underwater! And under the command of the legendary Captain Edward L. Beach!

Yes mine too, i read the book "Around the world Submerged" The voyage of the Triton by Captain Edward L. Beach. Great read, funny part when they rasie the scope and a native fisherman in a canoe spots it and thinks its some type of sea monster. But yeah the first boat to go round the world submerged.

Anyone read "Blind Mans bluff" The untold story of the cold war, tells of some brave daring skippers of that era when they were assigned to lay recording devices over the russian ph cables right in russian waters! (cable tapping operations in Okhotsk) The Seawolf was one of them assigned to these missions, according to US Navy was one of the oldest and most broken subs in the fleet. She went back to collect data from the recording devices 3 or 4 times. Which is a feat in its own. A few times they got depth charged by russian navy.

Not long after the russian navy found one of these recording devices over their cables, Later on they found out that there was a spy in the US navy selling information to the russians even tho one of the skippers for years had tried to tell the navy brass they refused to believe it. The russians new straight away the device was american made cause when they opened it up in small words its says "Made in America" this device can be seen in a russian museum

[fatty]

Footlong turkey breast on whole wheat, extra olives and mayo.

EDIT: Because it's delicious and easy on the waist line.

[SmokinTep]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

USS Triton (SSN-586), 'cause she sailed around the world - underwater! And under the command of the legendary Captain Edward L. Beach!
http://www.answers.com/topic/uss-triton-ssrn-586
http://navysite.de/ssn/ssn586.htm

Actually, she had to surface once to take off a crewman.

[Bort]

U-47. What Prien did still boggles the mind sixty-some years later.

[dean_acheson]

Prien wasn't a wart on O'Kane's rear end! Well, that is a bit overstated... (j/k)

To me, the Tang is fascinating, and O'Kane's writing was is so great and his patrols were so impressive, even given his tendency to overestimate some tonnage numbers.

I love Morton too, but to me, O'Kane is the greatest. Ed Beach is wonderful, and have enjoyed all the books on the Germans, espically Topp, but I am not as impressed with Prien as I am with O'Kane.

If Prien had survived and written a lovely bio., that might be a bit different, but I don't know that given Prien's Nazi attachments, that he would have been able to rehabilite himself like Galland or Topp.

I love this guy! He's the Aob king!

[Tchocky]

Jeez..the driest man ever to stand watch on an SS!

[HunterICX]

U-9 from WW1

as it did one of the most amazing things

Uboat.net:


On 16 July, 1914 this boat performed for the first time in history the difficult job of reloading torpedoes while submerged. This exercise would pay off only a few months later for the boat. On 22 September, 1914 U 9 (Ltn. Otto Weddigen) sank no fewer than 3 British cruisers in less than an hour: the HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, with the loss of almost 1400 men. This attack showed for the first time the capabilities of submarines in war. Otto Weddigen would perish with his U 29 later in the war.

pic:

she is a looker too

[kurtz]

Originally Posted by dean_acheson

If Prien had survived and written a lovely bio., that might be a bit different, but I don't know that given Prien's Nazi attachments, that he would have been able to rehabilite himself like Galland or Topp.

Prien does have a bio out covering school days 'till after Scapa Flow well worth a read very inspirational, rather short but the nothing curtails an autobiography like being killed. He does touch on Nazi party membership, but the way he describes between the wars Germany I don't think many would blame him.

(Tempus Publishing, Fortunes of war series, U-Boat Commander, Author Gunther Prien)

My favourite Sub Le Surcouf just for being Mega and strange and having a rather chequered career.

Mike