Tennant then gives the order to abandon ship.ġ2.33 pm: With a list of 60 or 70 degrees to port, the Repulse rolls over and sinks. Within minutes of this hit, she is attacked by torpedo bombers and receives four hits, the first of which jams the rudder and puts the ship out of control.
The Repulse is hit on the portside by a single torpedo but continues to fight, sailing at 25 knots. A third wave of attack sees nine Japanese planes assaulting the Prince of Wales, with three diverting to attack the Repulse. Although one bomb hits her, it fails to pierce the armour.ġ1.50 am: Tennant avoids a simultaneous attack by torpedo and high-level bombers from the enemy. Timeline of the attack on 10 December 1941ġ1.13 am: Japanese high-level bombers attack the Repulse. Despite fending off the initial attack, the Repulse was sunk with the HMS Prince of Wales, a major loss to British troops in the defence of Malaya. On 10 December, when the fleet was just 60 miles east-north-east of Kuantan, the Repulse was attacked by high-level bombers at 11.13 am. The fleet thus detoured to Kuantan for a planned surprise attack on the enemy. On his return journey, Phillips was informed that Japanese troops had landed at Kuantan. As the fleet’s movements were detected by enemy aircraft, Phillips decided to return on 9 December. On the evening of the 8 December 1941, the fleet sailed from Singapore, intending to launch a surprise attack on Japanese ships sighted in the Gulf of Siam. The fleet arrived at the Singapore Naval Base on 2 December 1941 to serve as a deterrent against Japanese attack. The old battle cruiser, commanded by Captain Bill Tennant, was the second capital ship of the British Eastern Fleet (codenamed Force Z) of six ships, whose commander-in-chief was Admiral Thomas Phillips. Her horizontal armour plating for protection against an air attack was considered outdated. The HMS Repulse also had four aircraft, but lacked modern anti-aircraft weapons.
4 The HMS Repulse was one of two battleships in the Renown class, the other being HMS Renown itself. 1 It was sunk off the coast of Kuantan, Malaya, on 10 December 1941 2 soon after arriving in Singapore as part of the British Eastern Fleet 3 with the HMS Prince of Wales as the flagship. The HMS Repulse was a battle cruiser built in 1916 and rehauled between 19.
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