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A story related to me from a friend…

A torpedo system was designed not to hit the submarine that fired it. It would detonate if it was aiming itself back.

So, testing came along, the torpedoes armed and… the sub turned itself around.

Bang.

Sorry, I don't understand what happened?

Sounds like the torpedoes were armed, but not yet fired. So the sub itself turning around in a circle triggered the self-destruct mechanism while the weapons were still in the tubes.

I think the implication is that the torpedos had not yet left their tubes, so when the sub turned around with them still in it they registered that as a situation where they should destruct.

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