Another thing that bears explanation is the reason that Dick O'Kane chose the stern/MOT/bow order of his spread instead of just shooting bow/MOT/stern as the target crossed the wire.
When you shoot bow/MOT/stern as I show in the Dick O'Kane tutorials, all three torpedoes follow the same track to the target, following in each other's wakes. This is called a longitudinal spread. There's nothing wrong with that, and it works well.
Until the target sees the torpedoes! Then a course change may allow him to avoid one of the torpedoes. Since they all follow the same path, avoiding one is avoiding them all.
This becomes critically important when firing from ahead of the target, as in the John P Comwell method. The easy fix for the target is to turn into the torpedoes and let them pass harmlessly to port. Try it in smooth water in the daytime. They'll avoid just about every time! You'll see the target turn into the torpedoes if they are approaching from forward of the bow and turn away if they approach from aft of the bow.
BUT if you instead shoot stern/MOT/bow, you're going to have to do some extra work. But that order results in the most divergent of torpedo paths. No longer do they follow each other in a straight line, but each takes its own path to the target and when shot in this order, stern/MOT/bow, their paths are separated to the maximum extent possible.
That means that avoiding one torpedo does not avoid the other two. The solution is MUCH more tolerant to possible reaction on the part of the target and your odds of a hit are much higher.
Using any method in smooth water during daylight it is critical that you shoot from such a range that the target cannot avoid your shots if they see the torpedoes approaching. That means that 1000 yards is the maximum I would attempt in those conditions, and my ideal would be 500 to 700 yards, just long enough for the torpedoes to arm. At that distance the target can gawk at the torpedoes and do anything he wants. He's dead meat.
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