After the number of American warships was sufficiently reduced, the IJN would commit its own presumably fresh and undamaged battleships to finish off the U.S. remnants in one huge climactic battle.

Compressed oxygen is dangerous to handle and required lengthy research and development, not to mention additional training for the warship's torpedomen, for safe operational use.

Some specification examples of ranges by speed: However, the IJN announced officially the maximum performance of the Type 93 was 11 km (12,000 yd) at 78 km/h (42 kn).

The stated range of over 10 km (11,000 yd) was effective when the targeted warship steamed straight for more than a few minutes while the torpedo approached.

The Type 93 torpedo had a main chamber filled with pure compressed oxygen, a joint regulator valve preventing reverse flow, and a small (approximately 13-liter) high-pressure air tank.

The warhead of the Type 93 torpedo was 480 kg (1,060 lb) (the same as the 1-ton 410 mm (16 in) gun of an Imperial Japanese battleship), increased to 1.6 tons for Kaiten.

In contrast, the U.S. Navy's standard surface-launched torpedo of World War II, the 53 cm (21 in) Mark 15, had a maximum range of 14,000 m (15,000 yd) at 49.1 km/h (26.5 kn), or 5,500 m (6,000 yd) at 83 km/h (45 kn), with a significantly smaller 375 kg (827 lb) warhead; torpedoes of other Allied nations did not have longer range.

At the battle of the Java Sea, February 27, 1942, the heavy cruiser Haguro launched a torpedo from 22,000 yards which hit and sank the Dutch destroyer Kortenaer.

[8] In the early surface battles of 1942–43, Japanese destroyers and cruisers were able to launch their torpedoes from about 20 km (22,000 yd) at the unsuspecting Allied warships attempting to close to gun range.

In one instance, the heavy cruiser Chikuma jettisoned her Type 93s just before being hit by bombs from several USN dive bombers at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.

It was initially believed that during the Battle off Samar (in the eastern Philippines) a 5 in (130 mm) shell from escort carrier USS White Plains[9] struck the heavy cruiser Chōkai which detonated the cruiser's Type 93 torpedoes, causing damage that forced the ship to be scuttled; however, the 2019 discovery by the RV Petrel of the wreck of the Chōkai with her torpedoes intact disproved this theory.

While the Type 93 torpedo was dangerous to its user as well as its intended target, the Imperial Japanese Navy felt that its effectiveness outweighed its risks.

Thirteen of these had been fatally hit solely by the Type 93, with the rest succumbing to a combination of bombs, gunfire, and torpedoes.