Even though I retired from the Army I started my military career in the Navy. Submarine Service of course.

The best-the very best boat-to ever have sailed beneath the surface of the ocean was the U.S.S. Chopper (SS 342).

Any others?

MSG Glenn, former EN1(SS)(DV)(P)

For World War II, the German Type XXI. Streamlined hull, improved electric batteries, faster underwater speed, improved torpedo loading system.

For modern subs, I'll take the Kursk class. Think of all the titanium I can sell to the scrap dealer.

The Seawolf class of the US. It has 8 torpedo tubes, stronger stell hulls (Hy-100 is stronger than HY-80 that most subs use). It can carry up to 50 Tomahawk UGM-109 missiles, and has other superior features than other subs.

The German Type VII\41C and The US Balao Class (a improved GATO class).

The Type VII\ had better range and could dive much further and faster.
The Balao was faster (both surface and underwater) and carried a much more powerful armament (10 Torpedo tubes vs 5).

The Chopper came right after the Balao Class.
There might be better classes of submarines but for crew integrity & efficiency it was tops. We had the Battle Efficiency E, the Engineering E & the Commo C & kept them for my time aboard at least.

After all these years the crew stays in contact with each other. The boat was half way across the Pacific when WW II ended so it never saw wartime action but all of the crew aboard her then were combat patrol vets & some are still alive & in contact.

It was made into a Guppy after the war like most of them were.

My cousin was on the USS Tusk (SS 429) & my buddy on the USS Blenny(SS 324) & they have no contact with any of the former crew members. That tells it all.

Originally Posted by MSG Glenn

Even though I retired from the Army I started my military career in the Navy. Submarine Service of course.

The best-the very best boat-to ever have sailed beneath the surface of the ocean was the U.S.S. Chopper (SS 342).

Any others?

MSG Glenn, former EN1(SS)(DV)(P)

forgot to tell you pal they offered me subs in Nam but i delcined.

here's the Chopper website:link

Originally Posted by Gary of CA

For modern subs, I'll take the Kursk class. Think of all the titanium I can sell to the scrap dealer.

No such thing. The Kursk was an Oscar II-class.

Navy photos of USS San Francisco in Dry Dock. after running aground. That this boat ever made it back to port is a tribute to its designers, builders, and especially to the crew and captain who was probably forced to resign.

Originally Posted by namvet

forgot to tell you pal they offered me subs in Nam but i delcined.

here's the Chopper website:link

Yep yep. Know the site well. Also SubVets. I won't say I'm overly active on either but I check in at least once a month. That way I find my shipmates who recently went on eternal patrol.

Sub duty is great but it's not for everybody. The reason I left was after I went to Underwater Swimmers School I had an opportunity for UDT & jumped at it. At that time the only way to get out of Submarine Service short of DQing yourself was to go to a higher priority job. I missed Subs but I was also very comfortable doing what I was doing & it also gave me the opportunity to go to Army Airborne School which served me well in my transition to the Army 14 years later.

From my POV there is no *best* sub, depnds much on the timeframe and the options/missions we are discussing.

As non-nuclear, super-silent, long distance attack sub, I guess the German 212/214 class is currently without match:

http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/type_212/

Rattler