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The Sinking of the Prince of Wales & Repulse: The End of the Battleship Era Paperback – September 22, 2014

by Martin Middlebrook (Author), Patrick Mahoney (Author)

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On the third day of the war with Japan, two Royal Navy capital ships were sunk off Malaya by air torpedo attack. They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse. The authors re-create for the reader not only what happened, but also what it was like for the men involved. They dispose of several myths to explain the events of those confused hours, and address the uncertainty, controversy and strong emotions that surrounded the militarily disastrous sinkings.

Print length

376 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Pen and Sword Maritime
Publication date

September 22, 2014
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1844150755
ISBN-13

978-1844150755
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Martin Middlebrook has written many other books that deal with important turning-points in the two world wars, including The First Day on the Somme, Kaiser's Battle, The Peenemünde Raid, The Somme Battlefields (with Mary Middlebrook) and The Nuremberg Raid 30-31st March 1944 (all republished and in print with Pen and Sword).

Martin Middlebrook is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and lives near Boston, Lincolnshire

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen and Sword Maritime; paperback / softback edition (September 22, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 376 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844150755
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844150755
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.25 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,728,668 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,047 in Ship History (Books)
- #3,806 in Naval Military History
- #15,978 in World War II History (Books)

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4.5 out of 5

300 global ratings

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Michaela Light

Great account of this battle from both sides + politics that led to it + analysis of consequences

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2022

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I love reading history! This book is an excellent combination of a detailed account of the battle from both sides plus the historical and political background that led to the battle. And an analysis of the aftermath.

The book is about the sinking of the 2 British battleships Repulse and Prince of Wales in Dec 10th 1941 off Malaya by (shock) aircraft. The Royal Navy couldn't believe that aircraft could sink a battleship... so they didn't work with the local RAAF for aircover.

While Repulse was 1916 (WWI vintage) and might have been expected to be damaged more, the Prince of Wales was the latest in battleship design from 1939 and had many watertight compartments and anti-torpedo defenses. It was said to be "unsinkable"...

Ever since navies don't send battleships into battle without fighter cover. Hence this date is called the end of the battleship era.

Ever since airpower has ruled the seas (and now missiles too).

Lots of mistakes and "fog of war" on both sides of the battle. Missed opportunities to win and lucky breaks.

You have to remember that in 1941 radar was rare, ships and aircraft often operated in radio silence to avoid detention, and clouds or darkness could cover an approach. Also plenty of mistakes in not passing messages along correctly from Japanese submarines and spotter planes to their command base in Saigon.

Lots of bravery on both sides. Pilots flying calmly into flak to drop bombs or torpedos at near point-blank range. Ships turning towards multiple torpedos to "comb" the torpedo spread at the last minute. Rescuing trapped men below decks as the sinks sank.

The Repulse went down in FOUR minutes after 5 torpedo hits in a cross spread that the Captain could not "comb" along with the other torpedos coming in the other direction.

Captain Tennant gave the order "All hands on deck. Prepare to abandon ship.”....God be with you.". 508 men didn't make it out in time.

The Prince of Wales took several hours to sink. Admiral Phillips and Captain Leach were both alive and uninjured at the end, though Phillips appeared very depressed, and they both went down with their ship.
Many sailors were saved by the escort destroyers. The sharks didn't bite on the survivors - maybe they were frighten off by the explosions or the taste of masses of fuel oil in the water...
And terrible suffering of the crews on all sides in fires, drowning, drinking fuel oil in the sea and threat of man eating sharks. Most injuries and deaths were on the losing side (the British Empire) with only a few on the Japanese Empire side.

This battle pretty directly led to the fall of Singapore a few weeks later and the collapse of the British, Dutch and American empires in SE Asia. The French empire there was already toast at that point, as Vichy France had let the Japanese occupy their IndoChina colonies unopposed (that is modern Vietnam, Cambodia and Loas). Siam (Thailand) got a mini-invasion too, but escaped full occupation and the kingdom survived WWII to the present day.

You might argue that this was one of the accelerants to the American-Vietnam war years later. As local people realized that Western powers could be defeated by Asians.

PS American and Australian ships rushed to the scene and were nearly part of the battle. This was just after Pearl Harbor attack on Dec 7th 1941.

One person found this helpful

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Immer

Excellent Rendering and Analysis of this Battle

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

Martin Middlebrook with Patrick Mahoney have written a short history one comes to expect from Middlebrook. The 350+ page book is broken down into 16 well organized chapters that cover the background of Capitol ships such as the Prince of Wales and Repulse, the philosophy of why the were sent to Asian waters, the mission, the battle, sinking , rescue, and analysis.

Four clear maps are provided, two diagrams of the first torpedo attack with subsequent flooding on Prince of Wales, and 34 photographs over 14 pages. These all help the reader visualize what happened on that day, that in reality, need not have occurred.

Middlebrook and Mahoney are adept at discussing and second guessing the decisions made in sending these two ships to their fate, with the benefit of hindsight (they state this up front and often), and this allows the reader to make their own decision on whether to cast blame on those who made the choices, or the philosophies of the time in regard to battleships/battle cruisers being able to withstand air attack while at sea, and the dreadfully wrong conclusion that the Japanese, and their equipment was inferior.

The air attack itself from opening defensive fire, to the ships sinking took about two hours under mostly clear skies and calm seas. The high altitude bombing had little effect, but the torpedo attacks were the fateful key to the battle, which proved very one sided -The Prince of Wales and Repulse sunk in exchange for three aircraft lost. The torpedo attacks are riveting as portrayed, and easily visualized by the reader.

Air power trumps sea power, as Billy Mitchell predicted. When one thinks of the Battle of Midway, the opposing naval forces never saw each other. The super Japanese battleships Yamato and Musashi were done in by naval AirPower. Middlebrook hints that even now, our aircraft carriers are obsolete, in the evolution of naval warfare.

As an after thought, the mission of the Prince of Wales and Repulse was eeriely similar to the voyage of the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen. Cover was blown, but they continued fatefully on their way. Single torpedo hits to the stern of both Prince of Wales and Bismarck took away their mobility, and put the nail in their coffins.

If you have enjoyed any of Martin Middlebrook’s other books, you will appreciate this book as well.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Judith Bunyan

Father Was on the Shop when it Sank

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

My Father served on the Repulse at this time & was one of the servivors who were taken to Singapore & over run by the Japanese ended up in a Japanese camp which he escaped from. This book is part of my families history which wil be past down to the grandchildren who will hopefully read.

Cliente Amazon

VERY INFORMATIVE.. GOOD ONE

Reviewed in Italy on November 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

ALL THE INFORMATION ON THE GENERALò POLITICAL SITUATION AND DATA AND INTERVIEWS ON THE BATTLE.. LIMITED IN SCOPE AS INTENDED, BUT EXHAUSTIVE.. GOOD READ

One person found this helpful

Peter Brimelow

Hard to put down.

Reviewed in Australia on February 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

A good level of detail, a good story well told.

Batman5051

Poignant Tale

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

Read it while cruising by the wreck site. We’ll written and detailed account of the build up and the sinking itself.

Kindle Customer

Four Stars

Reviewed in Australia on May 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

Well researched and well written.

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