Of course torpedoes were more effective in most cases.
Even in defense --Tassafaronga? Especially at night against line ahead formations, and the narrow Slot.
Savo was a Black comedy of errors.
I did not say all torpedo successes were comical.
At Savo Allied leadership was in turmoil from the git-go & throughout. Chicagos' Captain shot himself afterwards. He thought they were going to blame him, which was a combination of profound foresight & guilt.
Gunfire played (with the exception of Leyte) one of its greatest roles at Savo. It wrecked all guns, and put the Northern force dead in the water, not to mention the fires caused by the float planes and hangers which made them "self-illuminating" targets which enabled the Japanese to turn off their searchlights (to avoid being return targets).
Vincennes was hit 57 times before two possibly three torpedoes finished off an already totally out of commission, blazing wreck of a ship.
Astoria was hit 65 times, and totally out of commission, on fire from stem to stern, and it's doubtful any torpedoes hit her.
Quincy was hardest hit of all, an uncountable number of shells and a totally out of commission inferno before one torpedo finished her.
One of Canberras' torpedo hits came from an American destroyer on her starboard side (away from the Japanese)(she sailed into it in an attempt to gain access for her guns), her demise was from gunfire. She was finished off by Allied ships with torpedoes and gunfire.
Which is all what makes this encounter so interesting, and not the norm.
There is a quote I'll have to look up, when I find it I'll post it. It pretty much says it all.

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