Actually i have found a couple of drawings showing a torpedo stored that way (wartime pictures are usually too blurredto help in that way), and i agree about the potential danger wich a long lance exposed to fire poses, so my assumption is that the one showed outside the reload boxes (the feature visible behind the railings just below the torpedo itself) could be a spare one with no warhead fitted that could be used for parts when other long lances needs repairs while the ships is underway.
but i could obviously beign wrong.
Anyway, here they are Aoba in 1927 and Kinugasa in 1932
Added the ventilation slits to all turrets, and all drawings updated in the first page and argumented with some text for their history.
With this, The Aoba Class project is completed.