Q&A · 47:00-47:41

More reliable torpedoes at Pearl Harbor

A torpedo counterfactual focuses on weapon reliability and target arrangement rather than adding more Japanese aircraft.

Question

How would Pearl Harbor change if Japanese aerial torpedoes used a system that produced more successful shallow-water entries?

Short answer

Converting even half of the torpedoes that failed or ended on the harbor floor into hits could raise the total to roughly eighteen or twenty and make the attack substantially more destructive.

Notes

Many dropped torpedoes were later recovered from the harbor floor. Turning a significant share of those failures into hits would greatly increase damage because the battleships were closely berthed. Delivery reliability could therefore change the attack even with the same strike force and target list.