In fact, Wright claimed that his ships must have been fired on by submarines since the observed position of Tanaka's ships "make it improbable that torpedoes with speed-distance characteristics similar to our own" could have caused such damage, though Tanaka states that his torpedoes were fired at a range as short as three miles.
Rent faktisk hævdede Wright at hans skibe måtte være blevet beskudt af undervandsbåde, da den observerede position af Tanakas skibe "gør det usandsynligt at torpedoer med fart/afstands-karakteristika i lighed med vore egne" kunne have forårsaget så store skader, om end Tanaka udtalte at hans torpedoer blev affyret indenfor en rækkevidde af 5 km.