Did America maintain a powerful fleet of submarines compared to Germany during WW2?
Posted by admin | Under ww2 submarine Thursday Sep 11, 2008
The American Submarine fleet, dubbed the Silent Service, was almost single-handedly responsible for the destruction of the japanese merchant fleet, sinking 1152 ships and cutting off the strategically vital oil supplies from Indonesia. I don't think that US boats were technically superior to the German U-boats. There were serious problems early in the war with the magnetic fuses and depth settings on the US torpedoes. The torpedoes would run too deep. The high command demanded a setting of twenty feet, and the would run at sixty feet. The only submarine captains who got kills int he early part of the war were the ones who disobeyed orders and set thier torpedoes to run on the surface.
I do not think so. Americans mostly had ships and were busy fighting japanese.
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The US had & has the BEST Submarine fleet, during World War Two their boats were envied by their British Allies. American Submarines were superior to German Boats, much more comfortable, they could cruise for longer distances and dive deeper. American submarines carried the war to Japan and anihilated the Japanese Merchant fleet. An American submarine sank the worlds largest (Japanese) submarine. American Submarines assisted aviators who had to ditch in the water around Japan.
The only flaw in the mix were the torpedos which needed a lot of tweaking to be effective bu that problem was largely resolved by late 1942…
When in Hawai'i on O'ahu you need to visit the US Bowfin Museum….
Links & Snippets…
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/ships-ss.html
http://www.valoratsea.com/
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The officers and men of the US Silent Service, having had to re-write wartime tactical doctrine on the fly, were undoubtedly modern military pioneers. History has provided a place for these valiant sailors and the incredible deeds they performed by securing a prominent position in the expansion of any nation's naval fleet for a powerful submarine force. The final tallies show that of the 10 million tons of military and merchant shipping lost by the Japanese during WW II, US submarines accounted for a total of 54%. The interesting question remains as to how much earlier could the war have been brought to a close had the US submarine fleet been initially equipped with reliable torpedoes. The overall effectiveness of the submarine war and the tremendous contribution that the men of the silent service made towards its' final outcome is truly historic. ""
http://www.rddesigns.com/ww2/ww2sinkings.html
http://www.bowfin.org/website/about_park/about_frameset.html
""Mission Statement: USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park's mission is to restore and preserve the World War II submarine USS Bowfin (SS-287), and submarine-related artifacts on our grounds and in the Museum. Bowfin Park's parent organization, the Pacific Fleet Submarine Memorial Association (PFSMA), is a non-profit group that receives no state or federal funding.
Submarine: Visitors are given a walkman-style cassette player that narrates their tour as they explore this historic WWII submarine to imagine what life on board must have been like for her 80-man crew. USS Bowfin was launched on 7 December 1942 and completed nine successful war patrols. For her wartime service she also earned both the Presidential Unit Citation and the Navy Unit Commendation. USS Bowfin was acquired from the U.S. Navy in 1979 and opened to the public in 1981. In 1986 she was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of the Interior. Dive into Bowfin's War Patrols.
Museum: Explore the intriguing world of submarines, both past and present. Our 10,000 square foot Museum exhibits an impressive collection of submarine-related artifacts such as submarine weapon systems, photographs, paintings, battleflags, original recruiting posters, and detailed submarine models, all illustrating the history of the U.S. Submarine Service. Exhibits include a Poseidon C-3 missile that allows visitors to examine its inner workings. It is the only one of its kind to be on public display. Learn more about our Bowfin-related exhibits.
Mini-Theater: Relax and enjoy submarine-related videos in our Mini-theater, which seats approximately 40 visitors.
Waterfront Memorial: Within Bowfin Park stands a public memorial honoring the 52 American submarines and the more than 3,500 submariners lost during WWII. """""
PS The German U -Boat fleet has been greatly over rated // \\ mostly do to ignorance & stupidity, and their tactocs 'sucked,' that they achieved alarming results early on is no gauge as to how effective they could have been had they not been under the misguidance of Doenitz (dough nuts) and his boss A Hitler, fortunately…
Oh and see 'Operation Tokyo' with Cary Grant ….
Peace………………………..
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The U.S. Navy had the most powerful and best designed subs of WWII. Most were used against Japan in the Pacific where they were so effective that by 1945, Japan was virtually cut off from receiving any supplies from abroad. While Germany's U-Boats were undoubtedly effective, and her crews of the highest ability, by late 1943 the Allies had basically turned the tide against them with their anti-submarine warfare. Even though at war's end the Germans still had quite a few operational U-Boats, their impact on the was was minimal.
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The American Submarine fleet, dubbed the Silent Service, was almost single-handedly responsible for the destruction of the japanese merchant fleet, sinking 1152 ships and cutting off the strategically vital oil supplies from Indonesia. I don't think that US boats were technically superior to the German U-boats. There were serious problems early in the war with the magnetic fuses and depth settings on the US torpedoes. The torpedoes would run too deep. The high command demanded a setting of twenty feet, and the would run at sixty feet. The only submarine captains who got kills int he early part of the war were the ones who disobeyed orders and set thier torpedoes to run on the surface.
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Pig Boats by Theodore Roscoe
The simple answer is yes, and they were used to destroy enemy shipping and war ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific
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Yes. They may have been decisive in the Pacific War.
Afterwards, some submariners were very bitter their contribution was so undervalued.
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