The stock game has that also, just not as pervasive or intrusive...
- Anytime you turn on the "duds" feature, it will involve the running deep, possibly circling back at your boat, and the failure to detonate as well as premature explosions. TMO just ups the game and adds more and different chances, including the angle of impact for the pistol. Hit at 90, and you stand a very high chance for a dud.
Lockwood was actually the first to test the torpedo depth by having a boat shoot at a fishing net. BurOrd discounted his findings, because they weren't done "scientifically"...
- either way, it was a travesty and should never have happened. Sending fellows into harms way with a failure ridden weapon...
There were some skippers that did indeed set their torps to run shallower, but then you had commanders like Cristie that put out explicit orders to NOT ALTER the torpedo or its settings... Of course, he had been directly involved in the magnetic exploder...