Untitled Document
“Gato” – class Submarine
It is hard to overestimate the American submariners’ impact on the victory in the Pacific Ocean. They have managed to accomplish that which the German “Kriegsmarine” couldn’t – to block the enemy’s marine communications. American submarines had sunk over 1100 Japanese transports with the overall displacement of almost FIVE MILLION TONS! Ultimately, Japanese were building ships slower, than Americans sank them, and the Japanese supply lines have been cut.
It is interesting to note that most American submarines sported practically identical looks –were it either “Gato” class (77 submarines) or “Balao/Tench” class (122 submarines). They had a submerged displacement of 2400 tons, and they were armed with 6 front and 4 rear torpedo launchers. Their ammo consisted of 24 Mk. 14 torpedoes with the infamous magnetic detonator, which unreliability was legendary. By the middle of the war this flaw had been eliminated, and the successful attack ratio increased. And by the end of the war American submariners have begun using the Mk. 18 electric torpedoes, which possessed lesser range and speed, but allowed to perform stealthy attacks. It is noteworthy that Mk. 18 design was based on the German Type G7e torpedo, which was captured together with the U-570 submarine in 1941.
American shipbuilders focused not on the diversity of the submarine designs, but on improving their equipment, and had reached considerable success in this field. With time, submarines got equipped with radars, high-quality sonars, allowing them to bypass minefields, and artillery shells with radio detonators, allowing to fire effectively at the enemy’s floating submarines and small-sized ships without wasting torpedoes.
Americans chose the right strategy of submarine combat, leaving them on their own on enemy communications. To avoid mutual attacks, each submarine was assigned to its own area of operations. Apart from that, US submarines were used for patrolling and rescue operations. The fact that the former USA President Bush was rescued by a submarine is widely known.
Despite US forces having but a single submarine type, submarine fleet may become an important gameplay part for the “Steel Monsters” player.
“Gato” in the "Pacific Storm"
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