[TorpX]

Originally Posted by Roger Dodger

Ah, you must have seen the movie "Operation Pacific" (1951). That John Wayne is such a hero . The film is supposed to have been based on real events (except the sappy love interest ).

From IMDb:
During WWII, a submarine's second in command inherits the problem of torpedoes that don't explode. When on shore, he is eager to win back his ex-wife.

Yeah, I did see the movie a long time ago, but I was thinking of a more "faithful" type of test. One where you had a warhead moving horizontally to impact a steel plate. (Think of a child's swing, or a ballistic pendulum.) In this way you could use any angle and check compound angles, without even getting wet. I believe it was Adm. Lockwood who ordered the drop tests done (like in the movie).

... subs where getting hits and kills with Mk14s the entire war and alot of human error can occur with a torpedo attack there a numerous things that can cause a torpedo to miss that have nothing to do with the quality of the torpedo itself...

I will agree with this up to a point, but there was a long series of failures by the USN in this matter. We know comprehensive testing was possible, since it was eventually done. Lack of funds was perhaps a valid excuse in the '30's, but not in the era when the Navy was in the midst of an ambitious submarine building program. That excuses were still being made for not doing meaningful tests, after we were at war, is almost beyond belief.