True, but that would also limit a sub's maneuvering room. I have no real life ASW experience, but I'll give my opinion based on what I've read on ASW tactics. I'll stick to how a real world scenario of a defecting sub hunt would play out in my head.
Let's say the 142 dropped 12 light torps on a defecting Typhoon that was making his way through an underwater canyon system. Factoring in noisemakers from the Typhoon, underwater topography & Russian torpedo performance, I'll say 4 of the 12 hit the Typhoon. I don't think that would be enough to sink it, but the damage from increased flow noise & damaged internals could make it easier to detect.
As for the Typhoon, it's large size would make it easier for the active sonars on the torps to track. Going with the classic evasion tactic of noise makers, knuckles in the water & increasing speed to flank to evade torpedoes in a tight underwater canyon system would be... a tad bit reckless.
Again, I don't think the Typhoon would be sank in the attack, but it just may slow him down enough/easier to detect for other ASW assets to arrive & continue the attack. Of course, if there was an actual situation where a boomer was trying to defect to the US during the Cold War, the pilots would probably be told if they came back before the sub was sank, something... unfortunate would happen to their families.
As you can see, after seeing the movie, I had way too much time during my commutes to work to think about this. It feel good to finally get that off my chest. My wife could never sit through the whole presentation.
