World War I and World War II

 

Between World War I and World War II, the world's naval interest in submarines remained strong. The British, French, and Japanese built improved versions, and during this period the United States Navy built its first large, long-range submarine, the Argonaut. Completed in 1928, it was 381 feet long, had a surface displacement of 2,710 tons, was armed with two 6-inch guns, four forward torpedo tubes, and could carry 60 mines. The Argonaut was the largest non-nuclear submarine ever built by the US Navy, and led to the highly successful American Gato and Balao class submarines used in World War II.

 

In the 1930s, revived Soviet shipyards began mass-producing submarines, especially coastal vessels, to make the Soviet Union a naval power without spending large amounts of money on surface warships. However, while the Soviet program produced a large number of ships, the ships were ill-suited for operation against the German Navy, the crews were poorly trained, and the Soviet bases were mostly blocked by ice.

 

During World War II, large-scale submarine operations took place in the world's oceans. The most important German submarines in the Atlantic were the Type VIIs, relatively small but effective when properly used. The Type VIICs were 220.25 feet long, had a surface displacement of 769 tons, and were diesel-electrically powered. They had a speed of 17 knots on the surface and 7.5 knots submerged. Their armament consisted of a 90 mm deck gun, various anti-aircraft guns, and five torpedo tubes (four forward and one aft). They carried 14 torpedoes or 14 tube mines. These submarines had a crew of 44 and could achieve a range of 6,500 miles at 12 knots on the surface, although the submarine's gun batteries could continue to operate for just under a day at 4 knots.