The S class looked conventional and performed many missions, but it was an evolutionary endpoint rather than the main ancestor of the postwar fleet. Engineering features in later A-class submarines drew more strongly from the U and V classes. Their intended missions and scale also inherited much from the T class. The comparison separates broad wartime usefulness from long-term influence on submarine design.
Chapter · 1:14:49-1:16:33
Why the S class was not the Royal Navy's postwar design ancestor
Despite its wartime versatility, the S class contributed less directly to postwar Royal Navy submarine design than the U/V and T-class lineages.