3°33′36″N104°28′42″E / 3.56000°N 104.47833°E /3.56000; 104.47833
Prince of Wales arrives at Singapore, 4 December 1941, six days before being sunk | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Prince of Wales |
| Namesake | The title ofPrince of Wales |
| Ordered | 29 July 1936 |
| Builder | Cammell Laird,Birkenhead |
| Laid down | 1 January 1937 |
| Launched | 3 May 1939 |
| Completed | 31 March 1941 |
| Commissioned | 19 January 1941 |
| Identification | Pennant number: 53 |
| Motto | "Ich Dien" – German: "I serve" |
| Nickname(s) | PoW |
| Fate | Sunk by Japanese air attack, 10 December 1941 |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | King George V-classbattleship |
| Displacement | 43,786long tons (44,489 t) (deep) |
| Length | 745 ft 1 in (227.1 m) (overall) |
| Beam | 103 ft 2 in (31.4 m) |
| Draught | 34 ft 4 in (10.5 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 4 shafts; 4 sets gearedturbines |
| Speed | 28.3knots (52.4 km/h; 32.6 mph) |
| Range | 15,600 nmi (28,900 km; 18,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Sensors & processing systems | |
| Armament |
|
| Armour |
|
| Aircraft carried | 4Supermarine Walrusseaplanes |
| Aviation facilities | 1 ×catapult |
HMSPrince of Wales was aKing George V-classbattleship of theRoyal Navy that was built at theCammell Laird shipyard inBirkenhead. Despite being sunk less than a year after she was commissioned,Prince of Wales had an extensive battle history, first seeing action in August 1940 while still being outfitted in herdrydock, when she was attacked and damaged by German aircraft. In her brief career, she was involved in several key actions of the Second World War, including the May 1941Battle of the Denmark Strait, where she scored three hits on the German battleship Bismarck, forcingBismarck to abandon herraiding mission and head to port for repairs.Prince of Wales later escorted one of theMalta convoys in the Mediterranean, during which she was attacked by Italian aircraft. In her final action, she attempted to intercept Japanese troop convoys off the coast ofMalaya as part ofForce Z whenshe was sunk by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941, two days after theattack on Pearl Harbor.
She was sunk alongside herconsort, thebattlecruiserHMS Repulse, in an attack by 85Mitsubishi G3M andG4M bombers of the Japanesenavy air service.Prince of Wales andRepulse became the first capital ships to be sunk solely by air power on the open sea, a harbinger of the diminishing role this class of ships was subsequently to play in naval warfare. The wreck ofPrince of Wales lies upside down in 223 feet (68 m) of water, nearKuantan, in theSouth China Sea.
In the aftermath of the First World War, theWashington Naval Treaty was drawn up in 1922 in an effort to stop anarms race developing between Britain, Japan, France, Italy and the United States. This treaty limited the number of ships each nation was allowed to build and capped thetonnage of allcapital ships at 35,000 tons.[2] These restrictions were extended in 1930 through theTreaty of London, however, by the mid-1930s Japan and Italy had withdrawn from both of these treaties, and the British became concerned about a lack of modern battleships within their navy. As a result, theAdmiralty ordered the construction of a new battleship class: theKing George V class. Due to the provisions of both the Washington Naval Treaty and the Treaty of London, both of which were still in effect when theKing George Vs were being designed, the main armament of the class was limited to the 14-inch (356 mm) guns prescribed under these instruments. They were the only battleships built at that time to adhere to the treaty, and even though it soon became apparent to the British that the other signatories to the treaty were ignoring its requirements, it was too late to change the design of the class before they were laid down in 1937.[3]
Prince of Wales was originally to be namedKing Edward VIII but upon the abdication ofEdward VIII the ship was renamed atCammell Laird's shipyard inBirkenhead on 1 January 1937, before beinglaid down. She was launched on 3 May 1939. She was still fitting out when war was declared in September, causing her construction schedule, and that of hersister,King George V, to be accelerated. Nevertheless, the late delivery of gun mountings caused delays in her outfitting.[4]
In early August 1940, while she was still being outfitted and was in a semi-complete state,Prince of Wales was attacked by German aircraft. One bomb fell between the ship and a wet basin wall, narrowly missing a 100-ton dockside crane, and exploded underwater below thebilge keel, about six feet from the ship's port side in the vicinity of the aft group of 5.25-inch guns. Theshell plating buckled over a distance of 20 to 30 feet (6.1 to 9.1 m), rivets were sprung and there was considerable flooding in the port outboard compartments in the area of damage, causing a ten-degree list to port. The flooding was severe, because final compartment air tests had not yet been made and the ship did not have her pumping system in operation.[4]
The water was pumped out through the joint efforts of a local fire company and the shipyard, andPrince of Wales was later dry-docked for permanent repairs. This damage and the problem with the delivery of her main guns and turrets delayed her completion. As the war progressed there was an urgent need for capital ships, and so her completion was advanced by postponing compartment air tests, ventilation tests and thorough testing of her bilge,ballast and fuel-oil systems.[4]

Prince of Walesdisplaced 36,727 long tons (37,300 t) as built and 43,786 long tons (44,500 t) fully loaded. The ship had anoverall length of 745 feet (227.1 m), abeam of 103 feet (31.4 m) and adraught of 29 feet (8.8 m). Her designedmetacentric height was 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) at normal load and 8 feet 1 inch (2.46 m) at deep load.[5][6]
She was powered byParsons gearedsteam turbines, driving four propeller shafts. Steam was provided by eightAdmiralty boilers which normally delivered 100,000shaft horsepower (75,000 kW), but could deliver 110,000 shp (82,000 kW) with forced draft,[N 1]for a top speed of 28knots (52 km/h; 32 mph).[3][9] The ship carried 3,542 long tons (3,600 t) of fuel oil,[10] 180 long tons (200 t) of diesel oil, 256 long tons (300 t) of reserve feed water and 444 long tons (500 t) of freshwater.[10] During full-power trials on 31 March 1941,Prince of Wales at 42,100 tons displacement achieved 28 knots with 111,600 shp at 228 rpm and a specific fuel consumption of 0.73 lb per shp.[11]Prince of Wales had a range of 3,100 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,600 mi) at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).[12]

Prince of Wales mounted 10BL 14-inch (356 mm) Mk VII guns, mounted in one Mark II twin turret forward and two Mark III quadruple turrets, one forward and oneaft. The guns could be elevated 40 degrees and depressed 3 degrees. Training arcs were: turret "A", 286 degrees; turret "B", 270 degrees; turret "Y", 270 degrees. Training and elevating was done by hydraulic drives, with rates of two and eight degrees per second, respectively. A full gunbroadside weighed 15,950 pounds (7,230 kg), and asalvo could be fired every 40 seconds.[13] The secondary armament consisted of 16QF 5.25-inch (133 mm) Mk I guns mounted in eight twin mounts, weighing 81 tons each.[14] The maximum range of the Mk I guns was 24,070 yards (22,009.6 m) at a 45-degree elevation, the anti-aircraft ceiling was 49,000 feet (14,935.2 m). The guns could be elevated to 70 degrees and depressed to 5 degrees.[15] The normal rate of fire was ten to twelve rounds per minute, but in practice, the guns could only fire seven to eightrounds per minute.[14]Prince of Wales also carried 32QF 2 pdr (1.575-inch, 40.0 mm) Mk.VIII "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns and 80UP projectors, short-range rocket-firing anti-aircraft weapons used in the early days of the Second World War by the Royal Navy.[12]

On 22 May 1941,Prince of Wales, thebattlecruiserHood and sixdestroyers were ordered to take station south ofIceland and intercept theGerman battleship Bismarck if she attempted to break out into the Atlantic.CaptainJohn Leach knew that main-battery breakdowns were likely to occur, sinceVickers-Armstrongs technicians had already corrected some that took place during training exercises inScapa Flow. These technicians were personally requested by the captain to remain aboard. They did so and played an important role in the resulting action.[16]
The next dayBismarck, in company with theheavy cruiserPrinz Eugen, was reported heading south-westward in theDenmark Strait. At 20:00Vice-AdmiralLancelot Holland, in hisflagshipHood, ordered the force to steam at 27 knots (50 km/h), which it did most of the night. His battle plan called forPrince of Wales andHood to concentrate onBismarck, while the cruisersNorfolk andSuffolk would handlePrinz Eugen. However the two cruisers were not informed of this plan because of strictradio silence. At 02:00, on 24 May, the destroyers were sent as a screen to search for the German ships to the north, and at 02:47Hood andPrince of Wales increased speed to 28 knots (52 km/h) and changed course slightly to obtain a better target angle on the German ships. The weather improved, with 10-mile (16 km) visibility, and crews were at action stations by 05:10.[16]

At 05:37 an enemy contact report was made, and course was changed to starboard to close range. Neither ship was in good fighting trim.Hood, designed twenty-five years earlier, lacked adequate decking armour and would have to close the range quickly, as she would become progressively less vulnerable to plunging shellfire at shorter ranges. She had completed an overhaul in March and her crew had not been adequately retrained.Prince of Wales, with thicker armour, was less vulnerable to 15-inch shells at ranges greater than 17,000 feet (5,200 m), but her crew had also not been trained to battle efficiency. The British ships made their last course change at 05:49, but they had made their approach too fine (the German ships were only 30 degrees on the starboard bow) and theiraft turrets could not fire.Prinz Eugen, withBismarckastern, hadPrince of Wales andHood slightly forward of the beam, and both ships could deliver full broadsides.[17]
At 05:53, despite seas breaking over the bows,Prince of Wales opened fire onBismarck at 26,500 yards (24,200 m).[18] There was some confusion among the British as to which ship wasBismarck and thirty seconds earlierHood had mistakenly opened fire onPrinz Eugen as the German ships had similar profiles.Hood's first salvo straddled the enemy ship, butPrinz Eugen, in less than three minutes, scored 8-inch-shell hits onHood. The first shots byPrince of Wales – two three-gun salvoes at ten-second intervals – were 1,000 yards over.[17] The turret rangefinders onPrince of Wales could not be used because of spray over thebow and fire was instead directed from the 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinders in the control tower.[19]
The sixth, ninth and thirteenth salvos were straddles[18] and two hits were made onBismarck. One shell holed her bow and causedBismarck to lose 1,000 tons of fuel oil, mostly to salt-water contamination. The other fell short, and enteredBismarck below her side armour belt, the shell exploded and flooded the auxiliary boiler machinery room and forced the shutdown of two boilers due to a slow leak in the boiler room immediately aft. The loss of fuel and boiler power were decisive factors in theBismarck's decision to return to port.[20] InPrince of Wales, "A1" gun ceased fire after the first salvo due to a defect.[18] Sporadic breakdowns occurred until the decision to turn away was made, and during the turn "Y" turret jammed.[18]
Both German ships initially concentrated their fire onHood and destroyed her with salvoes of 8- and 15-inch shells. An 8-inch shell hit the boat deck and struck a ready service locker for ammunition, and a fire blazed high above the first superstructure deck. At 05:58 at a range of 16,500 yards (15,100 m), the force commander ordered a turn of 20 degrees to port to open the range and bring the full battery of the British ships to bear onBismarck. As the turn began,Bismarck straddledHood with her third and fourth four-gun salvoes and at 06:01 the fifth salvo hit her, causing a large explosion. Flames shot up nearHood's masts, then an orange-coloured fireball and an enormous smoke cloud obliterated the ship. OnPrince of Wales, it seemed thatHood collapsed amidships, and the bow and stern could be seen rising as she rapidly settled.Prince of Wales made a sharp starboard turn to avoid hitting the debris and in doing so further closed the range between her and the German ships. In the four-minute action,Hood, the largest battlecruiser in the world, had been sunk. 1,419 officers and men were killed. Only three men survived.[19]

Prince of Wales fired unopposed until she began a port turn at 05:57, whenPrinz Eugen took her under fire. AfterHood exploded at 06:01, the Germans opened intense and accurate fire onPrince of Wales, with 15-inch, 8-inch and 5.9-inch guns. A heavy hit was sustained below the waterline asPrince of Wales manoeuvred past the wreckage ofHood. At 06:02, a 15-inch shell struck the starboard side of the compass platform and killed the majority of the personnel there. The navigating officer was wounded, but Captain Leach was unhurt. Casualties were caused by the fragments from the shell's ballistic cap and the material it dislodged in its diagonal path through the compass platform.[19] A 15-inch diving shell penetrated the ship's side below the armour belt amidships, failed to explode and came to rest in the wing compartments on the starboard side of the after boiler rooms. The shell was discovered and defused when the ship was docked atRosyth.[21]
At 06:05 Captain Leach decided to disengage and laid down a heavy smokescreen to coverPrince of Wales's escape. Leach then radioedNorfolk thatHood had been sunk and went to joinSuffolk 15 to 17 miles (24 to 27 km) astern ofBismarck. The British ships continued to chaseBismarck until 18:16 whenSuffolk sighted the German battleship at 22,000 yards (20,000 m).Prince of Wales then opened fire onBismarck at an extreme range of 30,300 yards (27,700 m). All 12 salvos missed. At 01:00 on 25 MayPrince of Wales again regained contact and opened fire at a radar range of 20,000 yards (18,000 m), after observers believed that she had scored a hit onBismarck,Prince of Wales's "A" turret temporarily jammed, leaving her with only six operational guns.[18] After losing sight ofBismarck owing to poor visibility, and after searching for 12 hours,Prince of Wales headed for Iceland.[22] Thirteen of her crew had been killed, and nine wounded.[23]
On Friday 6 June, while in dry dock, a hole was found just above the starboard bilge keel. After the inner space had been pumped out, an unexploded shell fromBismarck was found nose forward, with its fuse, but without aballistic cap. The shell was removed by theBomb Disposal Officer fromHMSCochrane[24]


After repairs at Rosyth,Prince of Wales took Prime MinisterWinston Churchill across the Atlantic for the secretAtlantic Conference (Codename:Riviera) withUS PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt.[25] On 5 August Roosevelt boarded the cruiserUSS Augusta from thepresidential yachtPotomac.Augusta proceeded from Massachusetts toPlacentia Bay andArgentia inNewfoundland with the cruiserUSS Tuscaloosa and five destroyers, arriving on 7 August whilePotomac played a decoy role by continuing to cruise New England waters as if the president were still on board. On 9 August, Churchill arrived in the bay aboardPrince of Wales, escorted by the destroyersHMSRipley,HMCS Assiniboine andHMCS Restigouche.[26] At Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, Roosevelt transferred to the destroyerUSS McDougal to meet Churchill on boardPrince of Wales. The conference continued from 10 to 12 August aboardAugusta and, at the end of the conference, theAtlantic Charter was proclaimed.[27]Prince of Wales arrived back at Scapa Flow on 18 August.[25]
In September 1941,Prince of Wales was assigned toForce H, in the Mediterranean. On 24 SeptemberPrince of Wales formed part of Group II, led by Vice-AdmiralAlban Curteis and consisting of the battleshipsPrince of Wales andRodney, the cruisersKenya,Edinburgh,Sheffield andEuryalus, and twelve destroyers. The force provided an escort forOperation Halberd, a supply convoy fromGibraltar toMalta.[28] On 27 September the convoy was attacked by Italian aircraft, withPrince of Wales shooting down several with her 5.25-inch (133 mm) guns.[8] Later that day there were reports that units of the Italian Fleet were approaching.Prince of Wales, the battleshipRodney and the aircraft carrierArk Royal were despatched to intercept, but the search proved fruitless. The convoy arrived in Malta without further incident, andPrince of Wales returned to Gibraltar, before sailing on to Scapa Flow, arriving there on 6 October.[25]
Churchill had proposed sending one of the newKing George V battleships to Asia as a deterrent to Japanese aggression, though Admiral of the Home FleetSir John Tovey was opposed believing thatKing George Vs were not suited to operating in tropical climates.[29] On 25 OctoberPrince of Wales and a destroyer escort left home waters bound forSingapore, there to rendezvous with the battlecruiserRepulse and the aircraft carrierIndomitable.Indomitable however ran aground offJamaica a few days later and was unable to proceed. Calling atFreetown andCape Town South Africa to refuel and generate publicity,Prince of Wales also stopped inMauritius and theMaldive Islands.Prince of Wales reachedColombo,Ceylon, on 28 November, joiningRepulse the next day. On 2 December the fleet docked in Singapore.[25]Prince of Wales then became the flagship ofForce Z, under the command ofAdmiralSir Tom Phillips.[30]

Japanese troop-convoys were first sighted on 6 December. Two days later,Japanese aircraft raided Singapore; although thePrince of Wales's anti-aircraft batteries opened fire, they scored no hits and had no effect on the Japanese aircraft. A signal was received from the Admiralty in London ordering the British squadron to commence hostilities, and that evening, confident that a protective air umbrella would be provided by theRAF presence in the region, Admiral Phillips set sail. Force Z at this time comprised the battleshipPrince of Wales, the battlecruiserRepulse, and the destroyersElectra,Express,Tenedos andHMAS Vampire.[31]
The object of the sortie was to attack Japanese transports atKota Bharu, but in the afternoon of 9 December theJapanese submarineI-65 spotted the British ships, and in the evening they were detected by Japanese aerial reconnaissance. By this time it had been made clear that no RAF fighter support would be forthcoming. At midnight a signal was received that Japanese forces were landing at Kuantan in Malaya. Force Z was diverted to investigate. At 02:11 on 10 December the force was again sighted by a Japanese submarine and at 08:00 arrived off Kuantan, only to discover that the reported landings were a diversion.[31]

At 11:00 that morning the first Japanese air attack began. EightType 96 "Nell" bombers dropped their bombs close toRepulse, one passing through the hangar roof and exploding on the 1-inch plating of the main deck below. The second attack force, comprising seventeen "Nells" armed with torpedoes, arrived at 11:30, divided into two attack formations. Despite reports to the contrary,Prince of Wales was struck by only one torpedo.[32][29] Meanwhile,Repulse avoided the seven torpedoes aimed at her, as well as bombs dropped by six other "Nells" a few minutes later.
The torpedo struckPrince of Wales on the port side aft, abaft "Y" Turret, wrecking the outerpropeller shaft on that side and destroying bulkheads to one degree or another along the shaft all the way to B Engine Room. This caused rapid uncontrollable flooding[29] and put the entire electrical system in the after part of the ship out of action. Lacking effective damage control, she soon took on a heavylist.[33]
A third torpedo attack developed againstRepulse and once again she avoided taking any hits.

A fourth attack, conducted by torpedo-carryingType 1 "Bettys", developed. This one scored hits onRepulse and she sank at 12:33. Six aircraft from this wave also attackedPrince of Wales, hitting her with three torpedoes,[32][29] causing further damage and flooding. Finally, a 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) bomb hitPrince of Wales's catapult deck, penetrated to the main deck, where it exploded, causing many casualties in the makeshift aid centre in the Cinema Flat. Several other bombs from this attack scored very near misses, indenting the hull, popping rivets and causing hull plates to split along the seams and intensifying the flooding.[29] At 13:15 the order to abandon ship was given, and at 13:20Prince of Wales capsized to port, floated for a few brief moments upside down, and sank stern first;[29] Admiral Phillips and Captain Leach were among the 327 fatalities, out of a complement of 1,612.[33][1]
Prince of Wales andRepulse were the first capital ships to be sunk solely by naval air power on the open sea (albeit by land-based rather than carrier-based aircraft), a harbinger of the diminishing role this class of ships was to play in naval warfare thereafter. It is often pointed out, however, that contributing factors to the sinking ofPrince of Wales were her surface-scanningradars being inoperable in the humid tropic climate, depriving Force Z of one of its most potent early-warning devices, and the critical early damage she sustained from the first torpedo. Another factor which led toPrince of Wales's demise was the loss of herdynamos, deprivingPrince of Wales of many of her electric pumps. Further electrical failures left parts of the ship in total darkness, and added to the difficulties of her damage repair parties as they attempted to counter the flooding.[34]The sinking was the subject of an inquiry chaired byMr. Justice Bucknill, but the true causes of the ship's loss were only established when divers examined the wreck after the war. The Director of Naval Construction's report on the sinking claimed that the ship's anti-aircraft guns could have inflicted heavy casualties before torpedoes were dropped, if not preventing the successful conclusion of attack had crews been more adequately trained in their operation.[35][29]

The wreck lies upside down in 223 feet (68 m) of water at3°33′36″N104°28′42″E / 3.56000°N 104.47833°E /3.56000; 104.47833.
A Royal Navy White Ensign attached to a line on a buoy tied to a propeller shaft is periodically renewed. The wreck site was designated a 'Protected Place' in 2001 under theProtection of Military Remains Act 1986, just prior to the 60th anniversary of her sinking. Theship's bell was manually raised in 2002 by British technical divers with the permission of theMinistry of Defence and blessing of the Force Z Survivors Association. It was restored, then presented for display byFirst Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, AdmiralSir Alan West, to theMerseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool. The bell has been since moved to theNational Museum of the Royal Navy at thePortsmouth Historic Dockyard for display in the Hear My Story Galleries.
In May 2007, Expedition 'Job 74',[32] a dedicated survey of the exterior hull of bothPrince of Wales andRepulse, was conducted. The expedition's findings sparked considerable interest among naval architects and marine engineers around the world; as they detailed the nature of the damage toPrince of Wales and the exact location and number of torpedo strike holes. Consequently, the findings contained in the initial expedition report[32] and later supplementary reports[36][37] were analysed by the SNAME (Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers)[38] Marine Forensics Committee and a resultant paper was drawn up entitledDeath of a Battleship: A Re-analysis of the Tragic Loss of HMS Prince of Wales, and was subsequently presented at a meeting of RINA (Royal Institution of Naval Architects)[39] and IMarEST (Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology)[40] members in London in 2009 by Mr William Garzke. This report was also presented to the IMarEST, this time in New York, in 2011. However, in 2012 the original paper was updated and expanded (and renamedDeath of a Battleship: The Loss of HMS Prince of Wales. A Marine Forensics Analysis of the Sinking[29]) in light of a subsequent diver being able to penetrate deep into the port outer propeller shaft tunnel with a high-definition camera, taking photos along the entire length of the propeller shaft all the way to the aft bulkhead of 'B' Engine Room.

In October 2014, theDaily Telegraph reported that bothPrince of Wales andRepulse were being "extensively damaged" with explosives by scrap metal dealers.[41] It is a tradition for passing Royal Navy ships to perform a remembrance service over the site of the wrecks.[42] In May 2023, it was reported that a Chinese ship,Chuan Hong 68, illegally scavenged the wreck for itslow-background steel.[43][44] In July 2024, this same vessel,Chuan Hong 68, suspected of not only looting the wrecks of Force Z[45] but other World War II wrecks in Asian waters, was back 'working' in the region and was subsequently detained by Malaysia authorities for 'paperwork violations'.[46]
In spring 2019, Cammell Laird was commissioned to make a replica of the ship's bell for the ship's successor,HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the secondQueen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier. The original at the National Museum of the Royal Navy's Portsmouth Historic Dockyard location was surveyed as part of the process. Cammell Laird were able to contact Utley Offshore in St Helens, the foundry that made the original bell and that ofRMS Titanic, which still had the pattern based on the 1908 Admiralty design. Compared to the bronze or bell metal that is used in most modern ship bells, nickel silver was used for authenticity. The engraving was done by Shawcross in Birkenhead, while Cammell Laird shipwrights constructed the hardwood base. Cammell Laird COO Tony Graham presented the finished replica to commanding officer Captain Darren Houston during the ship's week-long visit to Liverpool in March 2020.[47][48]
During her career,Prince of Wales was refitted on several occasions, to bring her equipment up to date. The following are the dates and details of the refits undertaken.[49]
| Dates | Location | Description of Work |
|---|---|---|
| May 1941 | Rosyth | 4 ×Type 282 radar and 4 ×Type 285 radar added.[50] |
| June–July 1941 | Rosyth | UP projectors removed. 2 × 8-barrelled and 1 × 4-barrelled2-pdr pom-poms added.Type 271 radar added.[50][51] |
| November 1941 | Cape Town | 7 × single20 mm added.[50] |