Torpex-filled depth charges began reaching service in quantity around 1942 and greatly increased lethality against U-boats. The delay illustrates a distinction between technological development and implementation: war rewards immediate volume and can make factories reluctant to interrupt proven production for a new design. The armed forces may need adequate weapons immediately more than superior weapons after a costly factory transition. Once the process is mature, wartime demand spreads the technology quickly, but the underlying research usually predates the conflict.
Notable Point · 31:19-32:35
War accelerates implementation more than invention
The need to preserve current output delayed a superior explosive until 1942, even as wartime demand rapidly expanded its use once production matured.