HMS
Prince of Wales (pennant numberIn the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
53) was a King George V
-classThe King George V-class battleships were the penultimate battleship design completed for the Royal Navy . Five ships of the class were commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty limiting both the quantity, size , and armament of...
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
of the Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
, built at the Cammell LairdCammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.-Founding of the business:The Company was...
shipyard in BirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, England. The Prince of Wales
had a brief but active career, helping to stop the Bismarck
The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class and named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned.Bismarck...
and carrying Churchill to the
Newfoundland ConferenceThe Atlantic Charter was the blueprint for the world after World War II, and is the foundation for many of the international treaties and organizations that currently shape the world...
; however, her
sinkingThe sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a World War II naval engagement which illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against naval forces that were not protected by air cover and the resulting importance of including an aircraft carrier in any major fleet action.The action took...
by Japanese land-based bombers in the Far East in 1941 is one of the events that led to the end of the battleship being considered the predominant class in
naval warfareNaval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
.
The Admiralty ordered construction of two new
King George V-classThe King George V-class battleships were the penultimate battleship design completed for the Royal Navy . Five ships of the class were commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty limiting both the quantity, size , and armament of...
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
s on 29 July 1936 (the other became
HMS King George VThe second HMS King George V was the lead ship of the King George V class of battleships of 1939.-Construction:...
).
HMS
Prince of Wales (pennant numberIn the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...
53) was a King George V
-classThe King George V-class battleships were the penultimate battleship design completed for the Royal Navy . Five ships of the class were commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty limiting both the quantity, size , and armament of...
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
of the Royal NavyThe Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of HM Armed Forces . From the beginning of the 18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early...
, built at the Cammell LairdCammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.-Founding of the business:The Company was...
shipyard in BirkenheadBirkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, England. The Prince of Wales
had a brief but active career, helping to stop the Bismarck
The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class and named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned.Bismarck...
and carrying Churchill to the
Newfoundland ConferenceThe Atlantic Charter was the blueprint for the world after World War II, and is the foundation for many of the international treaties and organizations that currently shape the world...
; however, her
sinkingThe sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a World War II naval engagement which illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against naval forces that were not protected by air cover and the resulting importance of including an aircraft carrier in any major fleet action.The action took...
by Japanese land-based bombers in the Far East in 1941 is one of the events that led to the end of the battleship being considered the predominant class in
naval warfareNaval warfare is combat in and on seas, oceans, or any other major bodies of water such as large lakes and wide rivers.-History:Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Land warfare would seem, initially, to be irrelevant and entirely removed from warfare on the open ocean,...
.
Naming
The Admiralty ordered construction of two new
King George V-classThe King George V-class battleships were the penultimate battleship design completed for the Royal Navy . Five ships of the class were commissioned: King George V , Prince of Wales , Duke of York , Howe , and Anson .The Washington Naval Treaty limiting both the quantity, size , and armament of...
battleshipA battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of the largest caliber of guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers or destroyers. There are currently no battleships in service....
s on 29 July 1936 (the other became
HMS King George VThe second HMS King George V was the lead ship of the King George V class of battleships of 1939.-Construction:...
). They requested that the ship be named HMS King Edward VIII
in honour of the new monarchEdward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the British dominions, and Emperor of India from 20 January 1936 until his abdication on 11 December 1936, after which he was immediately succeeded by his younger brother, George VI...
. However Edward, who was perhaps sensing the possible future problems of his reign due to his relationship with Wallis Simpson, preferred Prince of Wales
.. The new Prince of Wales
became the seventh ship to bear the name.
Construction
At the time war was declared the Prince of Wales
was fitting out in Birkenhead. The ship was damaged in August 1940 during the Merseyside Blitz. She suffered one near-miss that exploded between her port side and the wall of the basin in which she lay, severely buckling and springing her outer plates in this area. The AdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty.In...
determined that she would be needed in case the Bismarck
or Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second Bismarck class battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, sister ship of Bismarck, named after Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz...
were deployed, so her construction was advanced by postponing several tests, shortening builder's trials, and deferring post-shakedown availability. She was commissioned on 19 January 1941 under the command of Captain John LeachJohn Catterall Leach was a British naval officer. He was the only captain of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales during her short period in service....
, but not physically "completed" until 31 March.
Service in the Atlantic
Shortly after her commissioning, Prince of Wales
joined HMS Hood
in intercepting and attacking the German battleship Bismarck
The German battleship Bismarck is one of the most famous warships of the Second World War. The lead ship of her class and named after the 19th century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, Bismarck displaced more than 50,000 tonnes fully loaded and was the largest warship then commissioned.Bismarck...
and the accompanying heavy cruiserThe heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
Prinz Eugen
The Prinz Eugen was an enlarged Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Germany during World War II.She was named after Prince Eugene of Savoy ....
. The Prince of Wales
sailed with civilian technicians still aboard. On 24 May, she and the Hood
fought the two German warships at the Battle of the Denmark StraitThe Battle of the Denmark Strait was a World War II naval conflict between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine.The British battleship Prince of Wales and the battlecruiser Hood fought the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, both of which were attempting to...
. Following the sinking of Hood
, Prince of Wales
, with an inexperienced crew, and having received seven large-calibre hits, with the output of her weaponry reduced due to malfunctions or damage, disengaged under cover of a smokescreen. During the brief battle, she struck Bismarck
three times; one hit on a forward fuel tank rendered it useless. This forced the Bismarck
to head for France for repairs. The Prince of Wales
joined up with the cruisers HMS Suffolk
HMS Suffolk was a County class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy, and part of the Kent subclass. She was built by Portsmouth Dockyard, Portsmouth, UK), with the keel being laid down on 15 November 1924...
and Norfolk
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in July 1927 at Govan by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd and launched on 12 December 1928. She was commissioned on 30 April 1930. In September 1931, Norfolk was part of a mutiny that later became known...
that had been shadowing the Bismarck
since before the Denmark Strait. Gunfire was exchanged with the Bismarck
briefly at 0131 hours on 25 May. Twelve hours later, Prince Of Wales
broke off pursuit due to her fuel running low. She then returned to the shipyard for six weeks of repair.
In August, the Prince of Wales carried British
Prime MinisterA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
Winston Churchill across the Atlantic to
Ship HarbourShip Harbour may refer to the following places:*Ship Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador*Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia*East Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia*Lower Ship Harbour, Nova Scotia...
next to the
Naval Station ArgentiaNaval Station Argentia is a former base of the United States Navy that operated from 1941-1994. It was established in the community of Argentia in what was then the Dominion of Newfoundland, which would later become the tenth Canadian province .-Construction:Established under the British-U.S...
,
NewfoundlandThe Dominion of Newfoundland was a British dominion from 1907 to 1949. The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
, where he secretly met with the
U.S. PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Franklin D. Roosevelt for several days in a secure anchorage, beginning on 10 August 1941. This meeting resulted in the
Atlantic CharterThe Atlantic Charter was the blueprint for the world after World War II, and is the foundation for many of the international treaties and organizations that currently shape the world...
on 12 August 1941. After this trip, she was assigned to the Mediterranean for
convoyA convoy is a group of vehicles traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval convoys have been used for hundreds...
escort duty for
Operation HalberdDuring World War II, Operation Halberd was a British naval operation in September 1941 to escort a convoy from Gibraltar to Malta.The convoy of nine merchant ships sailed on 24 September 1941, with a close escort under the command of Rear Admiral Harold Martin Burrough. It was also accompanied by...
where she was credited with shooting down several Italian aircraft.
Service in the Far East
On 25 October 1941, Prince of Wales
was dispatched to SingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...
as part of Force ZTwo World War II military groups were called Force Z* An Allied force attached to General Sir Archibald Wavell's Middle East Command in 1941, consisting of Nos. 7, 8, and 11 Commando, along with the locally raised Combined Middle East Commando...
, along with the battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships...
HMS Repulse
HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser, the second to last battlecruiser built by John Brown and Company, Clydebank, Scotland, for the Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be a unit of the R class battleships, but was ordered to a modified design...
and the destroyers HMS Electra
HMS Electra was a Royal Navy 'E' class destroyer . She was ordered on 1 November 1932 as part of the 1931 Naval Build Programme; launched on 15 February 1934 at the Hawthorn Leslie Shipyard at Hebburn, Tyneside...
and Express
HMS Express was an E class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was one of 18 'E' and 'F' class destroyers to be built.She was launched on 29 May 1934. She had an overall length of 100 m, displacement of 1,375 tons, and a maximum speed of 35.5 knots...
. She thus became the flagship of the Eastern Fleet under AdmiralAdmiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral. It is usually abbreviated to "Adm." or "ADM"...
Sir Tom PhillipsAdmiral Sir Thomas "Tom" Spencer Vaughan Phillips GBE, KCB, DSO had a successful career in the Royal Navy. He was nicknamed "Tom Thumb" owing to his short stature...
. She reached Singapore in early December. The new aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
HMS Indomitable
HMS Indomitable was a modified Illustrious class aircraft carrier of the British Royal Navy. The Illustrious class came about due to the 1937 Naval Programme...
had been scheduled to join
Force ZTwo World War II military groups were called Force Z* An Allied force attached to General Sir Archibald Wavell's Middle East Command in 1941, consisting of Nos. 7, 8, and 11 Commando, along with the locally raised Combined Middle East Commando...
, but she ran aground in
JamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width, amounting to 11,100 km
2. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harboring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
during trials and was under repair.
These ships were sent to Singapore to "overawe" the Japanese and deter them from attacking Malaya and the East Indies. However, the Japanese were not deterred and commenced their invasions on 8 December, the same day that they attacked
Pearl HarborPearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
on the other side of the
International Date LineThe International Date Line is an imaginary line on the surface of the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian where the date changes as one travels east or west across it...
. Admiral Phillips decided to try to intercept the landing fleets, and Prince of Wales
and Repulse
set off, along with four destroyers, HMS Electra
, Express
, Tenedos
HMS Tenedos was an Admiralty 'S' class destroyer. Commissioned in 1919 she served throughout the period between the two World Wars.Laid down on the 6 December 1917, she was constructed by Hawthorn Leslie of Tyne, and was completed in 1918....
, and HMAS Vampire
HMAS Vampire was a V class destroyer of the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy .Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Vampire was loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as a depot tender until just before World War II...
, to search for the Japanese. However, they were not successful and the Japanese submarine I-65
spotted them as they returned to Singapore. Japanese aircraft and submarines shadowed the fleet, and on 10 December 1941, without any air cover, both the Prince of Wales
and the Repulse
were attacked and sunkThe sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a World War II naval engagement which illustrated the effectiveness of aerial attacks against naval forces that were not protected by air cover and the resulting importance of including an aircraft carrier in any major fleet action.The action took...
by 86 Japanese bombers and torpedo bombers from the 22nd Air Flotilla based at Saigon.
As a modern battleship, the Prince of Wales
was expected to fare better than the World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
veteran Repulse
. To some degree this was not so. Even before setting out, the Prince of Wales
surface scanning radarRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
was inoperable, depriving Force Z of one of its most potent early-warning devices. Early in the battle, the Prince of Wales
was disabled by a lucky torpedo hit where the propeller shaft entered the hull, which caused severe flooding, rendered the rudder useless, and cut the power to her dual purpose gunA dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.- Description :Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...
s. Perhaps more serious still was the additional loss of dynamos depriving Prince of Wales
of many of her pumps. Further electrical failures left parts of the ship in total darkness and added to the difficulties of Prince of Wales damage repair parties as they attempted to counter the flooding. Altogether, she sustained four
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled explosive projectile weapon, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater toward a target, and designed to detonate on contact or in proximity to a target...
and one bomb hits in this action. Several hundred men were killed when the ship sank, with Vice-Admiral Phillips and
Captain LeachJohn Catterall Leach was a British naval officer. He was the only captain of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales during her short period in service....
being among those lost when they either chose to go down with their ship or abandoned ship too late. However, the stronger hull and superior underwater subdivision of the Prince of Wales
enabled her to stay afloat much longer than her aged companion and resulted in a far larger proportion of her crew being saved, in stark contrast to the older Repulse
which suffered a heavy loss of life when she rapidly sank.
They were the first capital ships to be sunk solely by airpower 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 a contributing factor to the sinking of the Prince of Wales was her inoperable radar and the early critical damage she had sustained from the first torpedo. The British Director of Naval Construction's report on the sinking also claimed that the ship's anti-aircraft guns could have "inflict[ed] heavy casualties before torpedoes were dropped, if not prevent[ed] the successful conclusion of attack" had crews been more adequately trained in their operation.
The wreck lies upside down in of water at approximately
. A British flag attached to a line on a buoy that is tied to a propeller shaft is periodically renewed. The wreck site was designated as a 'Protected Place' in 2001 under the
Protection of Military Remains Act 1986The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels. The Act provides for two types of protection: protected places and controlled sites. Military aircraft are...
, just prior to the 60th anniversary of her sinking. The ship's bell was manually raised using closed-circuit mixed-gas rebreathers in 2002 by British technical divers Gavin Haywood and George McClure with the blessing of the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
and The Force Z Survivors Association. It was restored, then presented for permanent display by
First Sea LordThe First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
and Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sir
Alan WestAlan West may refer to:*Alan West , English midfielder*Alan West, Baron West of Spithead, British politician and admiral in the Royal Navy*Alan West , former vocalist of English death metal band Bolt Thrower...
, to the
Merseyside Maritime MuseumThe Merseyside Maritime Museum is a museum based in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is part of National Museums Liverpool and an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage...
in
LiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
External links