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Originally Posted by propbeanie
Some info on German torpedoes
https://uboat.net/technical/torpedoes.htm
there is much more you can find on them on the web, including the link at the top of that page. The Japanese destroyed a lot of information as the war came to a close, so we rely upon information gleaned from interviews and books. They may have been working on a acoustic torpedo, but I've not seen info. They did however, have the kaiten which had minor success (I wouldn't want it to be considered 'minor' if they hit my ship), but most Japanese crew reports from the field were often over-exaggerated, such as their attack on Ulithi Atoll. |
Kaitens were quite overegged IIRC. Although I can't remember the source anymore, it was that they were one-for-one, less effective than Long Lances. I've heard a theory (again, can't remember source) that many pilots got cold feet at the last moment and tried to save themselves (which _seemed_ easier than in a plane, but in reality wasn't) - no idea whether it's true or not though.
Dan Carlin had a very good and interesting section on Kamikaze (applies to Kaiten too) in episodes VI I think of his Supernova in the East podcast.