Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

In meetings on 17 and 20 October, the British Defence Committee formally discussed Far East naval reinforcement in response to the fall of the Konoe government on 16 October. In agreement with August–September assessment of Japanese intentions, Winston Churchill and his cabinet favoured the deployment of a modern battleship for deterrent effect. The Royal Navy, as part of its offensive strategy, planned to send the and s to Singapore, but the Nelsons could not deploy. was damaged in the Mediterranean Sea in late-September. Crew leave prevented from deploying until mid-December, and a gun refit scheduled from February to May 1942 was required before she could conduct further operations. With working up, the earliest either could reach the Far East was August 1942. The was, aside from the Revenges, the only worked-up battleship that could sail east before Spring 1942. On 20 October, the Committee decided to send Prince of Wales to Cape Town, South Africa. Once at Cape Town, a review would decide whether to send the ship onward to Singapore; this would keep Prince of Wales available to respond to an emergency in home waters. In December 1941, as a deterrent to Japanese territorial expansion which was recently demonstrated by the invasion of French Indochina, it was proposed that a force of Royal Navy warships be dispatched to the Far East with a view to providing reinforcement for Britain's possessions there, most notably Singapore. First Sea Lord Sir Dudley Pound represented that Singapore could be adequately defended only if the Royal Navy sent the majority of its capital ships there, to achieve parity with an estimated force of nine Japanese battleships. However, dispatching such a large British force was impractical as the British were at war with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy much closer to home. Nevertheless, Churchill appeared optimistic about the improving situation in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean; he advocated sending two capital ships along with an aircraft carrier to defend Malaya, Borneo and the Straits Settlements. Churchill has been criticised for showing "considerable ignorance" and holding an "exaggerated belief in the power of the battleship," along with "a tendency to interfere in naval matters." This may have led him to propose a squadron of three modern ships: one battleship, one battlecruiser, and one carrier. His view was that using the Ultra decrypts that would give Japanese ship locations to the British, they could then use their own ships to form a "fleet in being" to deter Japanese action, as the , sister to the lost , was in the North Sea. The revised British proposal allocated the Prince of Wales, the veteran , and the for air cover, though the plan had to be revised when Indomitable ran aground in the Caribbean Sea. The dispatch of capital ships to Singapore had been part of the Admiralty's strategic planning since the naval base had been expanded and fortified beginning in the early 1920s. The scale of this planned deployment had been reduced during the 1930s, since Germany and Italy presented new threats to British interests in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it was still assumed that a significant force of capital ships would deter Japanese expansion. Churchill's plan presumed that the United States would agree to send its Pacific Fleet, including eight battleships, to Singapore in the event of hostilities with Japan, or that the British force would add to the deterrent value of the US fleet, should it stay at Pearl Harbor. Admiral of the Home Fleet Sir John Tovey was opposed to sending any of the new King George V battleships as he believed that they were not suited to operating in tropical waters. Indeed the humid climate of Malaya would negatively affect the capabilities of the Prince of Wales, such as the breakdown of her surface search radars, deterioration of her anti-aircraft ammunition, and increased crew fatigue due to the lack of air conditioning. Deployment (right), commander of Force Z, and his deputy, Rear Admiral Arthur Palliser, on the quayside at Singapore naval base, 2 December 1941. Force G, consisting of the modern battleship Prince of Wales, the First World War era battlecruiser Repulse, and the four destroyers HMS , , and , arrived at Singapore on 2 December 1941. They were then re-designated Force Z. The new aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable was allocated to Force G, but whilst working up off Jamaica, she had run aground in the entrance to Kingston harbour on 3 November 1941. Indomitable required 12 days of dry dock repairs in Norfolk, Virginia, and was not able to take part in the action. Indomitable carried one squadron each of Fairey Fulmars and Hawker Sea Hurricanes. Another aircraft carrier, (which was with Prince of Wales at Cape Town), was on passage to Singapore to join Force Z, but was not deployed due to lack of speed. On 1 December, it was announced that Sir Tom Phillips had been promoted to full admiral and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Fleet. A few days later, Repulse left for Australia with and , but the force was recalled to Singapore to assemble for possible operations against the Japanese. Also at Singapore were the light cruisers HMS , , and , and the destroyers , Encounter and Jupiter. The heavy cruiser , Dutch light cruiser , two more British destroyers ( and ), and four United States Navy destroyers (, , and ) would be there within three days. Although Durban and Stronghold were available, Admiral Phillips decided to leave them at Singapore because they were not as fast as the other ships. Additionally, Danae, Dragon, Mauritius, Encounter and Jupiter were also at Singapore, but were under repair and not ready to sail. Japanese preparations Churchill publicly announced Prince of Wales and Repulse were being sent to Singapore to deter the Japanese. In response, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sent 36 Mitsubishi G4M bombers to reinforce the existing Mitsubishi G3M-equipped Kanoya Air Group and Genzan Air Group, whose pilots began training for an attack on the two capital ships. The bomber crews, of the Kanoya Air Group of Kanoya Kōkūtai (751 Ku), Genzan Air Group of Genzan Kōkūtai (753 Ku), and the Mihoro Air Group of Mihoro Kōkūtai (701 Ku), trained in torpedo attacks at an altitude of less than 10 metres (30 ft), and in long-range over-ocean navigation, so they could attack naval targets moving quickly at sea. Genzan Air Group was commanded by Lt Cdr Niichi Nakanishi, Kanoya Air Group by Lt Cdr Shichizo Miyauchi and Mihoro Air Group by Lt Hachiro Shoji. This was the first time in the war that a force of bombers was specially trained and equipped for “ship killing”, an unprecedented capacity, as around that time ordinary land-based bombers (particularly the Mediterranean theatre) had attacked ships at sea with limited success. ==Hostilities commence==

On 8 December 1941, early in the morning, bombers of Mihoro Air Group attacked Singapore. These and other Royal Navy operations in the Mediterranean theatre (September 1939 – December 1941) showed that it was risky but possible to operate in waters covered by enemy land-based air, as German and Italian aircraft damaged but could not stop Malta convoys, while no British battleships had been lost. Phillips grossly underestimated the scale of attack, and believed that the majority of enemy attack aircraft would be level bombers rather than land-based naval torpedo bombers. However, the Japanese bombers that were assigned to attack his ships were specially trained and equipped for "ship killing", which the British did not realize due to intelligence failures. The Japanese force of torpedo bombers was also much larger than what the British had attacked with at Cape Matapan, all while Phillips' flotilla had fewer escorts than Vittorio Veneto. The squadron's acting CO, Flight Lieutenant Tim Vigors, had been advised of the radio procedures that would be used by Force Z. However, the extreme heat and humidity in Malayan waters rendered her anti-aircraft fire control radars unserviceable and her 2-pounder ammunition had deteriorated as well. Royal Air Force technicians were called in to examine the Princes radars but needed a week to effect repairs, and Force Z would be underway in a few days. Departure After receiving word of a Japanese convoy bound for Malaya, Force Z, consisting of Prince of Wales, Repulse, Electra, Express, Vampire and Tenedos, sailed from Singapore at 17:10 on 8 December. Phillips hoped to attack off Singora on 10 December; had he departed one day sooner, he might have achieved his objective without coming under air attack at all, for the Japanese squadrons had not yet arrived. They were joined by four s of Cruiser Division 7 and one light cruiser, four destroyers of Destroyer Squadron 3. The cruiser , flagship of Vice Admiral Ozawa, was also ordered south to find Force Z. At about 17:30, just a half-hour before sunset, Force Z was spotted by three Aichi E13A seaplanes, which had been catapulted off the Japanese cruisers , and , which were escorting the transports. Phillips' intention was no longer to attack off Singora, although Phillips changed course at 19:00 toward Singora, to deceive the shadowing aircraft, then south toward Singapore at 20:15, when darkness covered him. Return to Singapore That night, one of the Japanese seaplanes dropped a flare over the Japanese heavy cruiser Chōkai, having mistaken her for Prince of Wales. After this, the Japanese force of six cruisers and several destroyers turned away to the northeast. The flare was also seen by the British force, which feared they had been identified and then turned away to the southeast. At this point, the forces were approximately 5 miles (9 km) apart but did not sight each other, and the Japanese force was not picked up on the radar of the Prince of Wales. At 20:55, Phillips cancelled the operation, saying that they had lost the element of surprise, and ordered the force to return to Singapore. On the way back, they were spotted and reported by the Japanese submarine I-58 at 03:40. They were ordered to proceed to the best-estimated position of the ships. The attack was carried out by nine Mitsubishi G3M 'Nell' twin-engine bombers from the Genzan Air Group, each armed with one 500 kg (1,100 lb) armour-piercing bomb. They mistook the destroyer for a battleship and wasted their ordnance without scoring a hit. At 10:15, a scout plane to the north of most of the Japanese aircraft piloted by Ensign Masato Hoashi spotted Force Z and sent out a message detailing their exact position. The remaining Japanese planes converged upon the retreating British task force. The planes had spread out to search for the British warships, so they arrived over the target in small groups. With fuel running short, the Japanese attacked as they arrived rather than forming into a large force for a co-ordinated strike. The first wave was eight Nell bombers from the Mihoro Air Corps with 250 kg (550 lb) bombs, who attacked at 11:13, concentrating solely on Repulse. Besides seven near misses they scored just one hit, which penetrated the hangar and the upper deck and exploded in the marine mess area. The bomb caused no serious damage and relatively few casualties, and Repulse continued on at 25 kts (46 km/h, 29 mph), still in fighting trim. Five of the eight bombers were damaged by anti-aircraft fire, and two were forced to return to base. At around 11:40, 17 Nells with torpedoes (two squadrons from the Genzan Air Group) approached the two capital ships. Eight concentrated on Repulse, while nine attacked Prince of Wales, sending eight torpedoes speeding towards the flagship (one plane aborted its run on Prince of Wales and peeled off and attacked Repulse). One Nell was shot down and three more were damaged by the Prince of Wales anti-aircraft fire during this attack. This first wave of torpedo attackers made no hits on Repulse but managed one ultimately fatal hit on Prince of Wales, right where her outer port propeller shaft exited the hull (some historical accounts state there were two hits in this attack, but an extensive 2007 survey of the hull of the wreck by divers proved there was only one). Turning at maximum revolutions, the shaft twisted and ruptured the glands that prevented sea water entering the ship via the broad shaft tunnel's interior bulkheads. The flagship promptly took in 2,400 tons of water and her speed dropped to 16 kts (30 km/h, 18 mph). Also flooded from this hit were the long shaft passage itself, 'Y' Action Machinery Room, the port Diesel Dynamo Room, 'Y' Boiler Room, the Central Auxiliary Machinery Room, and a number of other compartments aft. The torpedo hit had devastating further effects. First, it caused an 11.5-degree list to port, and Prince of Wales was hit by another three torpedoes on her starboard side (some historical accounts At the same time as this last torpedo attack commenced against Prince of Wales, planes from the Kanoya Air Group also attacked Repulse from both starboard and port. Repulse, which had dodged 19 torpedoes so far, was caught in a 'hammer and anvil' attack (or pincer attack) and was hit on the port side by one torpedo. Within minutes, further attacks resulted in at least three more torpedoes striking Repulse. She had been hit seriously and Captain William Tennant soon ordered the crew overboard; Repulse listed heavily to port over a period of about six minutes and finally rolled over and sank stern-first at 12:33 with heavy casualties. Prince of Wales was now under power by only one propeller shaft, but was still able to fire at a high-level bombing attack which commenced at 12:41, although only with S1 and S2 5.25 inch turrets. Although most of the bombs straddled her, one bomb penetrated her deck amidships. This bomb penetrated the upper deck and exploded amongst the wounded gathered in the Cinema Flat beneath, causing extensive casualties. Soon Prince of Wales started to capsize to port (even though she had taken more torpedo hits to starboard) and HMS Express came alongside to take off the wounded and non-fighting crew. The order to abandon ship was then given and soon after Prince of Wales rolled over to port, floated for a brief moment upside down, and then sank stern-first at 13:18. The rumbling sound of the attacks was heard in Singapore. The Japanese had achieved eight torpedo hits, four each on Prince of Wales and Repulse, out of 49 torpedoes, while losing only three aircraft during the attack itself (one Nell torpedo bomber from the Genzan Air Group and two Betty torpedo bombers from the Kanoya Air Group) and a fourth plane was so badly damaged that it crashed on landing. The 2007 survey of the two wrecks confirmed that there were four torpedo hits on Prince of Wales and could confirm only two hits on Repulse, as the amidships area where the other two hits were reported was buried beneath the seabed. arrived over the battle area at 13:18, but it managed to escape the Buffalos and returned to confirm the sinkings. After they were rescued, some survivors of the Repulse manned action stations to free Electra sailors to rescue more survivors. In particular, Repulse gunners manned 'X' and 'Y' 4.7-inch (120 mm) mounts, and Repulse's dentist assisted Electra's medical teams with the wounded. In total nearly 1,000 survivors of Repulse were rescued, 571 by Electra. Vampire picked up nine officers, 213 ratings, and one civilian war correspondent from Repulse, and two sailors from Prince of Wales. Of the high-ranking officers on Prince of Wales, Admiral Phillips and Captain John Leach chose to go down with their ship, and the senior survivors were Lt Cdr A. G. Skipwith, the ship's First Lieutenant, and Cdr. (E) L. J Goudy, the chief engineer, who were rescued by Express. Captain Tennant of Repulse was rescued by Vampire. On returning to Singapore the rescued Captain Tennant was greeted by an equally distressed Air Vice-Marshal Pulford, who exclaimed "My God, I hope you don’t blame me for this. I had no idea where you were". According to the London Gazette report by Vigors: On the way back to Singapore with the survivors, Express passed Stronghold and the four American destroyers heading north. Express signalled the action was over, but the ships proceeded to search the area for more survivors. None were found. While returning to Singapore from this search, Edsall boarded the fishing trawler sighted by Force Z that morning. The trawler was identified as the Japanese vessel Kofuku Maru, and was taken to Singapore, where the Japanese crew was interned. While the Japanese bombers were returning to their airfields in French Indochina, a second wave was being prepared for another attack on Force Z. They had not been given accurate information on the progress of the battle. The attack was called off as soon as they received confirmed reports of the sinkings from Ensign Hoashi. The next day, Lt Haruki Iki flew to the site of the battle, dropping two wreaths of flowers into the sea to honour combatants from both sides who had died in the battle. One was for the fellow members of his Kanoya Air Group, while the other was for the British sailors. ==Aftermath==

in Liverpool. The morning after the battle, Churchill received a phone call at his bedside from Sir Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord. Churchill delivered news of the sinking to the House of Commons before noon on 11 December, which was followed by a full review of the situation in Malaya the next day. Although all five battleships survived the Indian Ocean raid, their service in the Pacific was uneventful and they were later withdrawn to East Africa and the Mediterranean. The Prince of Wales and Repulse were the first capital ships actively defending themselves to be sunk solely by air power while steaming in the open sea. Both of them were relatively fast ships compared to the slower US battleships that were caught at anchor at Pearl Harbor. Furthermore, Prince of Wales was a new battleship with passive and active anti-aircraft defences against contemporary aircraft, being equipped with the advanced HACS, although it was largely inoperable during the battle. He later commented, I reckon this must have been the last battle in which the Navy reckoned they could get along without the RAF. A pretty damned costly was of learning …. I had worked out a plan with the liasion officer on the Prince of Wales by which I could keep six aircraft over him all daylight hours within 60 miles of the east coast to a point north of Khota Bharu. This plan was turned down by Admiral Phillips. Had I been allowed to put it into effect I am sure the ships would not have been sunk. Six fighters could have made one hell of a mess of even 50 or 60 slow and unescorted torpedo-bombers.... As we could do nothing else, we kept virtually the whole squadron at readiness at Sembawang while the fleet was out. I was actually sitting in my cockpit when the signal eventually reached us that the Fleet was being attacked. Phillips had known that he was being shadowed the night before, and also at dawn that day. He did not call for air support. He was attacked and still did not call for help. Eventually it was the captain of "Repulse" who called for air support just before his ship sunk. ==The ships today==

The Japanese considered salvaging the ships or at least their radar equipment. In the first week of March 1942, a salvage team located the Repulse with little difficulty. Some AA guns and shells were brought up, but the team was called away on more urgent business before any attempt could be made to lift her. The wrecks of the two ships were found after the war, Repulse in 183 feet (56 m) of water, and Prince of Wales in 223 feet (68 m). Both are in a nearly upside-down position. Buoys were attached to the propeller shafts, and flags of the Royal Navy are attached to the lines and are regularly changed by divers. These Royal Navy wrecks are Crown property. Prince of Wales bell was removed from the wreck in 2002 by an authorised team of Royal Navy and British civilian divers in response to fears it would be stolen by unauthorised divers. The bell is now on display at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool. It is a tradition for every passing Royal Navy ship to perform a remembrance service over the site of the wrecks. In May 2007, a survey of the exterior hull of Prince of Wales and Repulse was conducted. The expedition's findings sparked considerable interest among naval architects and marine engineers around the world, because they detailed the nature of the damage to Prince of Wales and the location and number of torpedo hits for the first time. The findings contained in the initial expedition report were analysed by the SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers) Marine Forensics Committee and a resultant paper was drawn up entitled "Death of a Battleship: A Reanalysis of the Tragic Loss of HMS Prince of Wales This paper was subsequently presented at a meeting of RINA (Royal Institution of Naval Architects) and IMarEST (Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology) members in London by William Garzke. In October 2014, The Daily Telegraph reported that Prince of Wales and Repulse were being "extensively damaged" with explosives by scrap-metal dealers. ==Memorial==

A memorial was dedicated on 10 December 2011 at The National Memorial Arboretum, the UK's national site of remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. The memorial was dedicated in the presence of the few surviving former crew members of the ships. The final veteran of the sinking of the HMS Repulse was James “Jim” Wren who passed away on the 4th February 2026 at the age of 105, he was also the oldest veteran of the Royal Marines. ==Notes==