Long-range submarines, distant bases and the cost of surfacing

Germany tried the torpedo-and-mine approach to commerce disruption and achieved some success during the Second World War. In this assessment, its useful longer-range submarines were too few, and the absence of larger cruiser-type boats limited what it could achieve. British access to many bases may have encouraged complacency about operating at great distances without support. That interpretation helps explain why the risks of a distant gun action could be underestimated. Damage taken during a slow surface engagement could leave a submarine with a difficult journey home. Remaining under water was its main protection, so a design that required prolonged surface gunfire worked against survival.