British submarine development concentrated on propulsion, batteries, and streamlined hulls, particularly in the U and V classes. In this assessment, that focus helped sideline the snorkel despite access to Dutch examples. A snorkel is judged to have been especially useful for Mediterranean operations. Development time and resources were limited, while greater precision in submarine ASDIC and sonar remained a priority. The resulting attention to underwater information leads into the example of HMS Venturer's submerged interception.
Notable Point · 7:00:27-7:02:17
British submarine priorities and the missed value of snorkels
Propulsion, hull, and sonar development competed with snorkels for limited British submarine development effort.