>Mm, well, in absolute terms, U-505 fared better than the vast
>majority of Axis submarines, including those that survived the war.
>Most of the survivors were caught up in the orgy of waste that was
>Operation Deadlight, or its Pacific equivalent (like
>U-511/Ro-500 and I-401), mostly in the name of
>keeping the Commies from getting their hands on all the lovely
>technology.

The sinking of I-401 makes sense in the context of the Cold War, as I'm sure there were members of the brass who found themselves nervous at the idea of the Soviets putting together a submarine carrier that could launch a surprise attack on vital ports or (as intended) the Panama Canal locks.

But Deadlight has a more mundane explanation: The Brits had had it with the Germans using subs to get the better of the Royal Navy twice in a century and wanted to ensure there would be no third time. It was part of the general mania of destruction that all the Allies engaged in in that short period between the official end of the war and the recognized start of the Cold War. Most of those boats sunk during Deadlight were either worn-out, obsolete, or of no value as anything but scrap.

>(For that matter, surviving Allied submarines generally didn't do much
>better either, ultimately. Although at least they mostly got recycled
>into razor blades or something rather than just being dumped at sea.)

And those girls made out better than the Operation Crossroads crowd.