How effective were these submarines anyway i know they patrolled along the californian coast and presumably still do
When I was a sonarman, I was trained how to identify specific Russian subs by their unique sound. The B-39 is a Whiskey class sub that was one of the types I had to identify. Some of the others were known as Hotel, Foxtrot and Alpha class boats. Each were unique. The Whiskey was a workhorse for the Russians. There were a lot of them. It was odd that after a number of years I was able to tour one.
As far as being effective, the Whiskey was a key player in espionage. When on the battery they were very quiet but were very loud when on the snorkel. The same with the others with the exception of the Alpha. It was one of the most quiet boats out there. Very hard to pick up.
The boat were extremely effective in that there were many of them and could cover a large area. At first we were able to pick them up routinely, but the boats improved greatly, making them a larger threat.