Not sure how the Japanese financed their early war effort but Hitler used the guns and butter approach. First he made sure there was plenty of butter then he concentrated on the guns. Getting the ratio of guns to butter right was a bit tricky but he pulled it off.
Once the Japanese invaded China I imagine they operated under a plunder economy.
I can’t imagine the frustration of the men in those subs when their only weapon was a dud.
Malfeasance isn’t a strong enough word to describe the butt covering by NSTRI when they ascribed all the torpedoes problems to the sub crews.
Heads should have been served up on platters.
Not sure how the Japanese financed their early war effort
Dig a little further back in history, you will find after they acquired and began developing modern weapons technology they stepped up their expansionism from the 1870's forward. They were systematically sacking up weaker Asian nations long before the adventure in China. Basically they did it mafia style - nice little country you got there, be a shame if it got shelled, bombed & invaded, here, sign onto this Pact with us. Japan gathered up a whole bunch of nervous new best friends forever like that. That was the genesis of their Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere plan. When WW2 ended a heck of a lot people got freed out from under Japanese despotism in the East.
I can’t imagine the frustration of the men in those subs when their only weapon was a dud.
They compensated by popping up, loosening up the deck gun and bringing out the small arms for some surface shoot'em up action against something vulnerable. Bit risky but better than nothing. Those guys were burning to contribute their part and if it took going topside to trade shots, so be it was the way they felt.
Those dud torpedoes did create some interesting war stories though. I don't recall the place, the ship or the action, but there was a trashed and sinking Jap ship that was being abandoned. A crewman who had jumped over the side was bobbing along contemplating his fate when a US torpedo came zooming in, essentially to finish the sinking ship off in spectacular fashion. The Jap crewman thought oh crap, this is it, since he was floating right by where the torpedo was going to hit. It was swimming straight & true, perfect shot. It slammed into the side of the ship, the warhead broke off and sank, while the main body remained floating like a piece of styrofoam. The crewman thought what the heck, swam on over and used it for a flotation device until he got picked up later. I don't think our torpedoes being used as lifesavers for enemy sailors was part of the intended design, but there it was.
Another story I know of is very illustrative of the sort of trouble caused by dud torpedoes. A US sub encountered a Jap sub, that was expected to be going through the area according to the code breakers if I recall correctly, putt-ing along on the surface with a good part of the crew sunbathing, eating, reading and goofing off in general. What a setup! Our guys made an easy plot and fired one torpedo submerged. It ran perfectly, and *THUNK* right onto the side of the Jap sub, with nothing happening. That was a 10 alarm OH CRAP moment right there - while the Japs were investigating what hit the side of their boat our guys scrambled to get another shot off, firing a spread from the remaining loaded tubes, blowing the Jap sub to smithereens that time. So they ended up firing 4 torpedoes for what should have taken just one - but they had no choice, they had to be sure since they weren't interested in playing cat & mouse with another sub way out in the middle of nowhere.
The unreliability of those torpedoes created a nasty dilemma for the skippers - they'd get griped at for not firing enough and getting results, then get griped at for firing so many at once. The penny pinchers were also chiming about how much that sort of "waste" was costing. What else were they supposed to do - if a really juicy target was found the best tactic was to fire a spread - sometimes multiple - and MAYBE there would be a live one in the bunch that would actually go off and do some damage. Absolute travesty our submariners had to put up with that kind of frustrating static.