Alternatively what changes would be required for the RAN to use the USN S class submarines?
If we are creating an ideal world for a RAN submarine fleet, would that represent an ideal outcome or staying with the RN O class boats be superior? If that means in 1943 we are unlikely to be able to maintain them due to lack of spares etc and general wear and tear over the proceeding 15 + years? Would we go to a USN boat then?
Since it was illegal to sell used warships to another country under the naval treaties, the earliest an S boat could be acquired by the RAN was when Lend-Lease took off, as a 6 of those were transferred to the RN under its provisions, 1 in late 1941, which was passed on to the Free Polish Navy & subsequently lost, and 5 more during mid-late 1942, which were used in the RN as training boats & ASW targets as their obsolescence & poor material condition made them unsuitable for operational use.
The USN only committed them to the front lines because of a shortage of modern boats, & only used in areas where their slow speed & short range were thought not to be too much of a hindrance (the defense of the Philippines, the NEI, the Solomons, & the Aleutians), but even there, their being slow & short-legged was a serious operational hindrance, they were plagued by constant mechanical breakdowns & severe hull corrosion, and were incredibly exhausting to the point of being almost uninhabitable in tropic waters, while the food would be largely spoiled & the crew exhausted within 2-3 weeks.
By the time they were withdrawn to training duties, they were pretty much coming apart at the seams, with reports of a couple boats being so badly rusted that while in dock, clumsy yard workers accidentally poked holes through the pressure hull; such material issues are thought by many to be the most likely cause of the loss of
S-28, which disappeared off Pearl Harbor during an ASW exercise in July, 1944.
Nor would fleet boats be available until there'd be any point grabbing some, as the USN was using every fleet boat the yards could produce, while the oddballs withdrawn from the front lines prior to late 1944 were needed as training vessels. By the time the early ones (pre-
Gato) were withdrawn in late 1944-early 1945, there weren't really enough Japanese targets to go around, and those ones had been used hard.
If the alt-RAN has a functional submarine arm during WW2, then not just for reasons of training & logistics, but also for the condition of the boats, trying to get extra hulls from the RN to expand the force and/or replace losses would be by far preferable to acquiring old US S boats; the only situation where trying to get some of those relics would make any sense would be if there was no other way to get any submarines in any sort of reasonable time.
The idea if using Nuke boats has come up again in regards to a Collins class replacement. It makes perfect sense in someways - range for starters but falls down when it comes to two issues, support - Aussie simply does not have the infrastructure or the money to built said infrastructure (Out sourcing that is just not an option) The other issue is who will sell them?
