If the bow planes are so much more effective than stern planes, it would stand to reason that all of the submarine builders would concentrate on having bow planes. Since they don't.....? That should speak volumes all by itself. Since there are NO submarines built without stern planes but quite a few built without bow planes, well, I think it's safe to say that ALL the submarine experts know a little about what they're doing.

Albacore suffered NO problems when the bow planes were removed. They were considered unnecessary, based on experience. And the CG does not shift forward. It's a matter of dynamic stability. What works for the rudder also works for the planes. The reason bow planes are still in use is to help maintain that all important periscope depth when virtually inches matter.

As far as high speed is concerned, bow planes are rigged out when going really fast since a malfunction causing the boat to dive will allow the boat to pass into it's destruction zone too quickly when going at high speed.

Skip Asay