Felixstowe flying boats suppressed U-boats

John Porte's work with Curtiss aircraft led into the Felixstowe flying boats used for early maritime patrol. Their presence forced submarines underwater, where early batteries, speed, and endurance sharply limited operations, so a patrol could succeed without sinking a boat. Surfacing and diving disturbed the water, while the transition itself could leave a submarine committed and exposed before its crew knew whether an aircraft was overhead. Even modest gunfire or bomb damage could disable diving controls, communications, or the pressure hull, leaving the submarine vulnerable to ships. A damaged radio also complicated a safe return through friendly minefields, and damaged control planes might reveal their danger only during the next dive.