A Torpex counterfactual for Taranto and Cape Matapan

The numerical example gives an 18-inch torpedo a blast equivalent to about 582 pounds of TNT instead of 388 pounds without enlarging its warhead. At Taranto, that difference could have increased the damage inflicted by each aerial torpedo hit. At Cape Matapan, a more heavily damaged battleship might have slowed enough for the Royal Navy to catch a larger Italian squadron in its close-range night action. Such a fight would still be dangerous because Italian ships could inflict serious losses at the same range. Extending the same gain across mines and torpedoes from 1939 makes the cumulative operational effect larger than any single hit.