In early-December 1941, Force Z arrived in Singapore to deter Japanese aggression and reinforce British positions in the Far East. Commanded by Admiral Tom Phillips, it consisted of two capital ships (HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse) and four destroyers.
Small and unbalanced, Force Z failed to deter the invasion of British Malaya on 8th Dec. With no air support and limited understanding of Japanese bomber range, Phillips decided to launch a fast strike on the landing site at Kota Bharu in northeast Malaya. On 9th Dec, Force Z was spotted by Japanese planes, forcing Phillips to discard his plan and head back south. But after receiving a report of a Japanese landing at Kuantan – hundreds of miles away from the nearest Japanese airbase – Phillips moved to investigate.
By the time Force Z arrived off Kuantan the next day, a strike force of 85 land-based naval bombers from Genzan, Kanoya, and Mihoro Air Groups had been deployed. Once the capital ships were spotted by a scout plane, the attacks began at 11.15 hrs.
HMS Repulse was the first target for the bombers. Completed in 1916 and armed with six 15 in. guns, the battlecruiser was fast but lacked strong armour. She performed well during the first attacks, suffering only minor damage from high-level bombs and avoiding several torpedoes.
The final blow was launched at 12.20 hrs by 20 torpedo-armed G4M ‘Bettys’ from Kanoya Air Group. Through intense anti-aircraft fire, the bombers overwhelmed Repulse and scored five hits. One of them is shown here, striking amidships on the port side. These strikes caused a rapid list to port before the battlecruiser finally sank at 12.33 hrs – the first time a capital ship was defeated solely by air power on open waters. The battleship Prince of Wales met the same fate at 13.20 hrs. For the loss of three Japanese planes and 21 airmen, British efforts to hold Malaya and Singapore were severely weakened.
Sources
Bogdanovic, Nikolai. World War II: Battle by battle. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 2019.
History of Diving Museum, ‘Sinking of the HMS Repulse’, no date (https://divingmuseum.org/indepth/repulse/, accessed 15th Dec 2025).
Konstam, Angus. Sinking Force Z: The day the Imperial Japanese Navy killed the battleship. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 2021.
Stille, Mark. Malaya and Singapore 1941-42: The fall of Britain’s empire in the East. Oxford, England: Osprey Publishing, 2016.
Wong, Heng ‘HMS Repulse – Singapore Infopedia’, 24 Jan 2018 (https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=c8a42fc5-4b92-4bfa-a94b-810430dc8056, accessed 15th Dec 2025).
By Ibrahim Zamir
Empire of History 