On top of that, the homing/guidance section took up more room, leaving even less room for a large warhead. In the first place, remember, they were 19" torpedoes, so the warhead HAD to be smaller. Why? Because they had smaller warheads than the standard torpedoes. And further, even if a sub carried a homing torp, no submarine commander would have fired one at at a capital ship, absent truly extraordinary circumstances. A FEW submarines carried one or two homing torpedoes.
Not only did homing torpedoes reach USN submarines quite late in the war, but no submarine EVER went on patrol with anything NEAR a full loadout of homing torpedoes. The sub then fired their one and only homing torp and scored a hit on one of the Japanese escorts. The convoy escorts reacted as one would expect, and came looking for the sub. They attacked the ships in the convoy with standard torpedoes, hitting at least one. The first use I'm aware of was by a sub that intercepted a Japanese convoy. The submarine-launched version of the USN homing torpedo was specifically intended for use against convoy escorts.
The modified version had wooden rails attached around its circumference to allow it to fit into and be launched from a standard 21-inch torpedo tube. The most obvious difference compared to the air-launched version was that the Mk 24 was developed as a 19-inch torpedo. The USN DID develop a modified version of the Mk 24, which could be launched from a submarine, but that development came later, nearer the end of the war. Those "first combat kills" were all German U-boats, killed by Mk 24's dropped from aircraft. The Mk 24 was an air-launched torpedo, specifically developed for use against submarines. Navy in March 1943, and it scored its first verified combat kills in May 1943.
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