Good cruiser design could not compensate for bad intelligence or rigid expectations about enemy behavior. U.S. naval intelligence did not accept the reported capability of the Japanese Long Lance torpedo, and some officers were surprised when Japanese forces attacked rather than waiting defensively. Ships also steamed straight courses instead of zigzagging in waters where torpedo attack was possible. Apparent cruiser vulnerability was therefore a combined intelligence, doctrine, and ship-handling problem rather than a simple defect in hull design.
Notable Point · 39:05-40:35
Torpedo intelligence and doctrinal surprise
Early Pacific cruiser losses reflected failures to accept Japanese torpedo capability and to expect attacks outside American doctrinal assumptions.