Aircraft mattered through suppression as well as submarine kills. A U-boat that sighted an aircraft had to crash-dive, interrupting battery charging, air intake, radio communications, or even refueling from a milk cow; it then had to wait before surfacing again. Those delays could keep boats from reaching an attack position and reduce the number available when a wolfpack struck a convoy.
Notable Point · 35:30-36:55
How aircraft disrupted U-boat operations without a kill
Aircraft could weaken a wolfpack simply by forcing U-boats to dive, delaying battery charging, refueling, radio traffic, and surface movement.