Ahoy - Mac's Web Log

Introduction.
With Japan entered the war in the Pacific on the 7th. of December 1941 by her unheralded attack on Pearl Harbor, at the insistence of Winston Churchill, the British Far East base at Singapore, was reinforced with the arrival on the 2nd. of December of HMS Repulse and the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, with 4 destroyers, now designated Force Z.

Battleship HMS Prince of Wales

It had been planned to provide the carrier HMS Indomitable for air cover, but she had struck an uncharted rock, taking her out of the equation. No substitute carrier could be found, and without the benefit of any real air cover, their days were already numbered.

Battle Cruiser HMS Repulse

Singapore, an island bastion?
Singapore had long been lauded as the impregnable island citadel in the Far East. But was this sheer propaganda, and was there any substance in such claims in fact?

Of course, in hindsight it was pure myth, Singapore was in fact merely one more example of British colonisation. It required much more than two Capital ships to bolster its defence, plus at the very least, a modern aircraft carrier needed to protect any large ships from either ship or shore based enemy aircraft
attack. In reality, both Repulse and Prince of Wales were doomed from the start.

Japan on the March.
The day after Pearl Harbor, Singapore was subjected to a Japanese air raid, of the 110 British and Australian aircraft to defend Singapore and Malaya, 60 were destroyed, some Brewster Buffalo planes remained, but this force was totally inadequate. On the 9th. of December, Alor Star airfield in Malaya where two Squadrons of Blenheim bombers were based was also raided by Japanese aircraft, and all but one bomber destroyed. The Japanese had also made troop landings in Thailand, and on the east coast of Malaya, the enemy well and truly on the march.

Japanese Betty bomber

From its experience both in the Norway and Crete campaigns, the Royal Navy had learned the hard way, that to survive, their ships when operating within range of enemy airfields without adequate air cover were very vulnerable and ships would soon be lost.

Japanese Nell aircraft

Japanese troop landings in Northern Malaya.
On the 8th. of December, Force Z sailed from Singapore to go and attack the reported landings at Kuantan. The old WW1 destroyer Tenedos was detached to return to Singapore as she was running short of fuel.

Finding no troop movements there, Admiral Phillips turned for Singapore and home. The force was steaming in line ahead with Prince of Wales 700 yards ahead of Repulse, the destroyers, Express ahead, Electra, and the old Australian WW1 Vampire, on the port and starboard beam of Prince of Wales, speed
26.5 knots.

Map of route taken by Force Z

At 1700 ( 5 PM ) on the 9th. the British force was sighted by Japanese submarine I-58, who reported his find to his Head Quarters, a force of aircraft was ordered to be ready to attack ForceZ. It was made up of 11 reconnaissance, 34 bombers, and 52 torpedo carrying aircraft, all belonging to the 22nd. Air Flotilla based on Saigon.

The flagship received a report at 1005 ( 10.05 AM ) on the morning of the 10th. that Tenedos was under attack from Japanese aircraft, about 140 miles South East from them. At 1113 ( 11.13 AM ) Force Z was under heavy air attack, the first three waves all high level bombers, with Repulse hit by a bomb.

Photograph taken from a Japanese aircraft during the initial high-level bombing attack. Repulse, near the bottom of the view, has just been hit by one bomb and near-missed by several more. Prince of Wales is near the top of the image, generating a considerable amount of smoke.
Japanese writing in the lower right states that the photograph was reproduced by authorization of the Navy Ministry

Now the torpedo bombers came at 1140 ( 11. 40 AM ), and Prince of Wales collected one torpedo which slowed her down. The second wave of torpedo bombers came at Repulse from two directions, with some adroit ship handling, her Captain dodged multiple torpedoes running in the water, only to finally pick up
one of them, but still she steamed on. Now came the third and final assault by the torpedo bombers, from several directions all at the same time, the two capital ships simply overwhelmed.

Repulse had 4 torpedoes strike home, her bow dipped below the waves, she listed, rolled over, lay on her side for a time, her keel came uppermost, and then the ship began to sink by the stern, her sharp bow pointed skywards as she submerged, gone, after only 8 minutes at 1223 ( 12. 23 P M )

Prince of Wales took torpedo hits on her port side, one blew off her A brackets that supported the port propeller shaft, and then several torpedoes struck home on her starboard side. A heavy bomb struck the struggling battleship amidships, the end was nigh, she too could take no more, the ship rolled over, bottom up, and the hull disappeared as the bow rose, and then slid from view at 1318 ( 13.18 P M )

Photograph taken from a Japanese plane, with Prince of Wales at far left and Repulse beyond her. A destroyer, either Express or Electra, is maneuvering in the foreground. Dulin and Garzke's "Allied Battleships in World War II", page 199, states that this photograph was taken "after the first torpedo attack, during which the Prince of Wales sustained heavy torpedo damage."
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Both British ships demolished by the sheer weight of the enemy attacking aircraft. The first time two Capital ship had been sunk in the open sea, by aircraft alone.

Prince of Wales lost 20 Officers and 307 Sailors, Repulse had 27 Officers and 486 Sailors killed, both Admiral Tom Phillips and his Flag Captain Leach drowned, but Captain Tennant of Repulse survived.

In Repulse, five Australian Midshipmen were serving, John S. Austin, Robert I. Davies, killed in action, and awarded a postumous Mention in Despatches, Bruce Dowling, Guy R. Griffiths and Peter Gyllies.

John, Guy and Peter all served as Lieutenants with me in HMAS Shropshire, and both John and Guy each won a Distinguished Service Cross in that cruiser.

Guy Griffiths went on to become a Rear Admiral, as the CO of HMAS Hobart, he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order in Vietnam.

Conclusion.
Winston Churchill on learning of the fate of Repulse and Prince of Wales said:

" In all the war I never received a more direct shock."

Nonetheless, their loss could be sheeted home directly to Churchill, he had insisted against the advice of his First Sea Lord, on their deployment to Singapore, without ensuring these ships were to receive adequate air support, and as a result, 840 men died.

A high price indeed to pay!

The White Ensign attached to the port inner shaft of the HMS Repulse,
ninety feet (30 m) down in the South China See