How torpedo defences work

I am 'old school' enough to have a lot of books. I also recently got the entire series of Profile Publications - Warships, Aircraft and Tanks - on a single DVD/CD.

I posted that link for the average players to give them some idea of the mechanics plus what works and what does not. Based on wartime experience with the Italian Pugliese system I would be very tempted to downgrade all Italian BBs to the 'roll a die and score 4,5,6' to remove one torpedo hit' rule as some older RN ships. Clearly the Pugliese system did not work.

Also torpedo hits in shallow water such as Taranto or Pearl Harbor may be more damaging as the blast may 'echo' or rebound off the harbour bottom. If it cannot go down it will instead go up - into the ship. Most contact explosions are lost in directions other than the target and thus much effect was lost.

Post-war 'hollow charge' or 'shaped charge' effects such as found on the bazooka or modern wire-guided anti-tank missiles were introduced into things like torpedoes. Modern anti-submarine torpedoes have a shaped charge head to direct as much of the blast as possible into the target and not just the surrounding water.

Barry