"the abrupt deceleration caused the guide rods to bend or bind"
That is what I define as broke. Because they were using detonators designed for slower speeds they broke. If they had moved the detonator back 1/2 to 1 inch in my opinion they would have had less failures due to high speed because the nose would have absorbed some impact reducing the negative G-force when broke the the rails. It is the same principle now used in every automobile manufactured ... a crumple zone.
You can read a very good article on the situation here:
http://www.historynet.com/us-torpedo...rld-war-ii.htm
They outlined the whole story including the cliff test and torpedo drops. I guess we will have the thank the Japanese for having light weight propellers on their aircraft at Pearl Harbour. Thanks to their blades we fixed the issue.
Read the manuals and documentation:
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/s-boat/index.htm
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/jolie/index.htm
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/torpedo/index.htm {Mark 14 and 23 ...see figure 2 and 4 for exact detonator and rail placements and 6-8b for closer details}
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/torpedomk18/index.htm#pg9 {Mark 18}
http://www.hnsa.org/doc/torpedomk18-maint/index.htm {Maintenance - Mark 18}