The Royal Navy's planning assumptions linked larger combined salvos with greater chances of hitting. The estimates described here suggest roughly one hit from five torpedoes and three from ten, with outcomes less certain when salvos were separated through an ongoing engagement. A nine-ship flotilla could divide into three attacking groups approaching from different bearings. Junior officers had to interpret partner ships' movements within seconds and could split away to divide enemy gunfire. An illustrative nine-destroyer attack with eight torpedoes per ship could deliver 72 weapons together or successive waves of 36. Changing the bearings between waves made it harder for a target to turn between, or comb, the tracks. These are tactical examples and planning expectations, with success dependent on practiced coordination and the conditions of the attack.
Notable Point · 1:13:40-1:20:05
Flotilla tactics turn torpedo numbers into a weapon
Multi-bearing attacks and successive torpedo waves make evasion harder, provided destroyer officers coordinate their movements under fire.