Fred, I'm not sure about just what your doing? But I applaud your efforts!
As a possible help, you may need to look in the "Menu_1024_768.ini" file, and see if there is a specific entry for the screens you are trying to change (the sub image for the "options" or "torpedo" screens). Drill down through the menu_1024_768.ini file to see if you can find the correct category, then go over the category to see if you can find the same reference of the "menu.txt" that relates to the text number you changed.
I'm thinking there is a reference to this same tooltip for the other screens you mentioned. What I'm thinking is you could change the reference number to something else (just make up a number that isn't being used by any other text) and use that number for the specific text you want, in the specific screen(s) you want it to appear.
Sorry, not to be any more help, I'm away from the game computer. But, I'm thinking this could be the angle you need to change just the screen you want, leaving the others alone. If your wanting to get into modding the "1024_768.ini" file is something you need to have some knowledge about. Here's a good starting place
"The deconstruction of the Menu_1024_768.ini file", this tutorial by zAmboni will help with a lot of what the menu_1024_768.ini file does and how it does it. It won't help in finding just the section your looking for, but I'm guessing it's there. You just need to find it in the correct section.