Why submarines struggled to provide tactical scouting reports

Was the shortage of submarine scouting at Midway doctrinal, or caused by deployment and communications problems?

Availability, position, and reporting delay were decisive. Submarines were useful strategically, but their contact reports aged quickly against moving ships and often passed through several headquarters.

A submarine could travel quickly on the surface, but doing so sacrificed stealth and exposed it to visual or radar detection. Its contact report normally travelled through submarine headquarters and fleet headquarters, adding delay while the target continued moving. That information remained useful for strategic reconnaissance but aged rapidly at tactical timescales. A submarine's best immediate contribution could therefore be attacking the contact rather than relaying a position that would soon be stale.