Japanese doctrine favoured massed long-range torpedo salvos, while British night-fighting methods sought to close before opening concentrated gunfire. A Japanese attack could be devastating if the target followed a predictable course, but radar awareness and zigzagging made a distant torpedo solution harder to calculate. If the British detected the enemy first and closed the range, lightly protected Japanese ships designed to maximise offensive power risked a short and violent gun action. The same logic appears in the Royal Navy's preference for rapid-firing six-inch cruiser guns: many hits can blind and disable an opponent faster than a smaller number of heavier shells. Torpedo craft and other ships built to fight above their weight had to overwhelm an enemy quickly rather than endure a prolonged exchange.
Notable Point · 1:02:38-1:06:47
Japanese torpedo salvos versus British close-range night fighting
A comparison of Japanese long-range torpedo doctrine and British close-range night tactics explains how detection, manoeuvre, and volume of fire shape a smaller force's chance of fighting up.