Type 93 Long Lance

In Type 93 Long Lance: Japan's Deadliest Torpedo, Stephen Carrington tells the story of the naval weapon that transformed nighttime combat across the Pacific during the Second World War. From the tense naval planning of the interwar years to the violent surface battles of Guadalcanal, the Java Sea, and Leyte Gulf, the Type 93 emerged as far more than a torpedo. It became the centerpiece of an entire doctrine built around surprise, long-range attack, and the belief that decisive fleet engagements could determine the fate of empires.

Drawing on wartime operational records, naval reports, technical research history, and firsthand combat accounts, Carrington traces the development of the Long Lance from its dangerous experimental origins to its devastating combat debut in the Pacific. He explores the revolutionary oxygen propulsion system that gave the weapon unmatched range and striking power, the secrecy surrounding its development, and the destroyer and cruiser tactics built specifically around its use. The book follows the torpedo through the night battles of the Solomon Islands, the collapse of Allied naval resistance in the Dutch East Indies, and the brutal struggle for Guadalcanal, where Japanese surface forces repeatedly shocked Allied fleets with attacks launched from distances once considered impossible.

More than the story of a single naval weapon, this book examines the relationship between technology, doctrine, industrial power, and strategic reality in modern war. Feared by Allied sailors and respected long after the war ended, the Long Lance remains one of the most formidable torpedoes ever used in combat, a weapon whose successes illuminated both the strengths and the limitations of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific War.