HMS Repulse

The  HMS Repulse was a British Renown-class battlecruiser, the second to last battlecruiser built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, for the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be a unit of the R class battleships, but was ordered to a modified design. She was launched in 1916, too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland, but also too early to incorporate the lessons of that battle. Still in time to take part in World War 1, in September 1916, she joined the Grand Fleet as flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.

Repulse in Days of Infamy
Shortly after the outbreak of war in the Pacific on 8 December 1941, Repulse left Singapore in company with the other major element of the Eastern Fleet, the fast battleship HMS Prince of Wales and 4 destroyers, to try and intercept Japanese invasion convoys heading towards Malaya.

However, on 10 December 1941, after failing to find any Japanese invasion forces, and turning south, Japanese aircraft were spotted. The fleet was attacked by 86 Japanese aircraft from the 22nd Air Flotilla based in Saigon, which attacked both Prince of Wales and Repulse. In the ensuing attacks, Repulse was ably handled by her Captain, Bill Tennant, who managed to comb several torpedo attacks. However Repulse's luck was not to hold out and she was caught by a skillfully synchronised Japanese pincer attack and hit by four or even five torpedoes in rapid succession.

Although an older ship than the Prince of Wales, the Repulse survived a bomb hit and managed to dodge 19 torpedoes before being sunk in 20 minutes after receiving 5 torpedo hits. However unlike Prince of Wales, when Repulse's end came it was far quicker and resulted in a greater loss of life.