23. The submarine service remained a small, elite force throughout the war.
The submarine service, like all branches of the US military during World War II, expanded throughout the war. All volunteers, it remained a close-knit community, with less separation between officers and enlisted men. Nearly all of the men who commanded submarines in the Pacific graduated from the Naval Academy, though reserve officers permeated the wardrooms. In all, just over 50,000 men served in the submarine service during World War II, officers and men included. They represented about 1.5% of the total manpower in the Navy during the war. Only about 16,000 served at sea on war patrols.
The construction of new submarines continued at an increasing pace throughout the war. At the time of the Japanese surrender, 182 submarines were active in the fleet, out of a total of 288 which served during the war. By comparison, at the war’s end well over 6.700 combat vessels comprised the United States Navy. The submarine fleet remained a relatively small element within the overall Naval might of the United States, manned by an elite corps of highly trained and dedicated officers and sailors. After the war, the contribution of the submarines appeared to the public, though it remained unheralded in comparison to the aircraft carriers and surface fleet.