My point was not which type of ship did the sinking, merely that those vessels were sunk. And they were sunk just as much by surface ships and surface ships carrying aircraft as much as they were by submarines.
The other point was that even in sub-infested waters, surface ships and surface ships carrying aircraft managed to neutralize the submarine threat.
The argument was made in response to the poster's contention that surface fleets were a useless anachronism. The conditions that prevailed in 1940-1945 are still factors in naval warfare today.
For anyone who's still interested, here's a list of battleship actions in World War II:
North Sea (Apr 9, 1940) The German Scharnhorst and Gneissenau exchange shots with the British battlecruiser Repulse. minor damage to both sides, the battle is inconclusive.
Denmark Strait (May 24, 1940) - German Bismark sinks HMS Hood and damages HMS Prince of Wales. Later that day Prince of Wales and Bismark trade further shots, with no effect. The Bismark escapes.
North Atlantic (May 27, 1941) Bismark is finally brought to heel by HMS Rodney and HMS King George V. Neither battleship can sink the German ship, which was either scuttled by the Germans or sunk by torpedo from a british cruiser, depending on who you believe.
Mers El-Kebir (July 3, 1940) - British Hood, Valiant, and Resolution attack French fleet tied up at their piers. The French lose the battleship Bretagne, suffer damage to Provance and Dukerque. The French Strausbourg escapes without a scratch. No damage to the British.
Calabria (July 9, 1940) Italian Julio Ceasare and Compte Di Cavour slug it out against HMS Warspite, Royal Sovreign and Malaya. The action is indecisive, but both Italian battleships are damaged.
Cassablanca (Nov 8, 1942) - The USS Massachusetts beats up the French Jean Bart, which is tied to a pier and missing half it's guns.
Guadalcanal (Nov 14-15, 1942) - Kirishima vs. USS South Dakota and Washington. Kirishima takes 9 16-inch hits and is so badly damagedit is scuttled the following day. Wahsington is moderate damaged.
North Cape (Dec 26, 1943) HMS Duke of York sinks the German Scharnhorst after a running fight.
Surigao Strait (Oct 24-25, 1944) - American squadron of Mississipi, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, California and Tennesee, sink Japanese squadron including the Fuso and Yamashiro. The battle was over so quickly that Pennsylvania never fired a shot. Five of the six American battleships had been salvaged from the attack on Pearl Harbor.