The story I heard was the torpedo battery design was poor, such that there was a risk of it overheating or maybe starting up the torpedo such that the drill was to get it overboard. That the torpedo would go active and start searching for the nearest contact, and out in the middle of nowhere that would be the sub.
Do torpedoes then have to be sensored ‘on’, or could you just push them out in a dead sensor/seek setting?
Did we have wire guided torpedoes then? I don't think so.
The standard submarine torpedo in the late 60's was the Mark 37, Mod 2 which was, I believe, wire guided.