Q&A: how crushing tubes absorbed torpedo blasts

Did the crushing tubes in Renown's anti-torpedo bulges work, and what were they meant to do?

They were intended to collapse under blast pressure, absorbing and spreading the torpedo's energy before it reached the magazine bulkheads.

The tubes were sacrificial structures inside the anti-torpedo system rather than rigid supports expected to remain intact. Their controlled collapse absorbed energy and spread the impulse across a wider area and a longer interval. That reduced the sharp load transmitted to the protective bulkhead behind the bulge. The Royal Navy concentrated them around the magazines because limiting blast effects there mattered most to the ship's survival.