Submarine Warfare

I have another listicle over at the National Interest, this time on submarines.

As with previous “5 Greatest” lists, the answers depend on the parameters; different sets of metrics will generate different lists. Our metrics concentrate on the strategic utility of specific submarine classes, rather than solely on their technical capabilities.

· Was the submarine a cost-effective solution to a national strategic problem?

· Did the submarine compare favorably with its contemporaries?

· Was the submarine’s design innovative?

And with that, the five best submarines of all time:

Editors love listicles because they generate mountains of page views. For writers, they’re fun and remarkably easy to write.  Noodle a bit about something you probably noodle about anyway, then set off 250 words for each of the five, framed by the intro and conclusion. I predict that by the year 2016, listicles will constitute 96.23% of all web traffic.  Good stuff.