Two alternatives follow from rejecting a submarine-only Atlantic campaign. Germany could have used its boats defensively near the coast as another layer of the Atlantic Wall. It could instead have combined submarines with small, fast surface raiders and long-range aircraft to stretch British defenses. The notional cruiser sacrifices balanced fleet-combat qualities for speed, range, and repeated commerce attacks. Any serious buildup would still have been visible, provoked a British response, and run into Germany's limited shipyard capacity.
Chapter · 29:54-32:24
Defensive submarines and fast raiders
Defensive submarines or fast long-range raiders offered different uses for German resources, although both remained limited by shipyard capacity.