HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Quiz

Answer: King George V Class

HMS Prince of Wales had a short but eventful career. She was completed on 31 March 1941, by Cammell Laird, and was one of the King George V Class of British battleships designed to the constraints of the London Treaty.

Answer: KMS Bismarck

On 24 May 1941 Prince of Wales and the battleship HMS Hood engaged the German battleship KMS Bismarck in an historic naval engagement in which Hood was sunk and Prince of Wales was damaged, but not before Prince of Wales struck Bismarck with three of her 14 inch shells.

Answer: She was only recently commissioned and was not fully operational

Prince of Wales had to alter course to avoid the wreckage of Hood. Up until this time, the battleship had been operating undisturbed, but with the loss of the flagship, she became the target for the concentrated fire of both enemy ships. During the following twelve minutes, Prince of Wales was hit by seven 15-inch and 8-inch shells, and at 06.13 hours, it was decided to break off the action and retire.

This decision was prompted by the fact that 'A' turret had jammed and was partially flooded, 'Y' turret was out of action and several of the 14-inch guns had jammed in elevation. The loss of 'Y' turret was due to the shell ring in 'Y' shell room having become jammed when a 14-inch shell was accidentally dropped into its training mechanism - it took more than two hours to make this turret fully operational again.

Prince of Wales had straddled Bismarck with her sixth salvo, despite her defective Type '284' radar and the teething troubles of her gun mountings. After Hood had sunk, she switched on her Type '281' air warning radar set which she used to determine the range of the enemy, with some considerable success. She straddled Bismarck several times before breaking off the action. The problems with the main armament were entirely the result of mechanical breakdowns, and errors in drill, and were not a result of enemy action. Prince of Wales had only recently been commissioned and was not fully worked up. Many civilians were still on board making adjustments to the armament when the ship sailed to intercept Bismarck.

Answer: Singapore

The British ships were returning to Singapore when, late in the morning of 10 December, they were attacked by a strong force of Japanese high-level bombers and torpedo planes. With no friendly planes to protect them, both heavy ships were hit several times.

Answer: True

HMS Repulse sank at about 12.30. HMS Prince of Wales capsized and followed her to the bottom less than an hour later. The first capital ships to be sunk by air attack while operating on the high seas, their loss further shocked a naval world already stunned by the events at Pearl Harbor only a few days earlier.

Answer: 1916

HMS Repulse was built at Clydebank by John Brown, and launched on 8th January 1916. She saw action in the First World war on the 17 November 1917 at Heligoland Bight (a sortie by British battlecruisers). During World War Two she operated off Norway in 1940, and on convoy duty until the summer of 1941. Repulse joined the eastern Fleet in October 1941, arriving at Singapore on 2 December.

Answer: HMS Renown

Although 'sister' ships in the Repulse class both ships were quite different in appearance. HMS Renown was a Battle cruiser built at Fairfield and re engined at Cammell Laird. she was launched on the 4th march 1916. Between the wars HMS Renown has a major refit at Portsmouth in May 1923 to August 1926. she had her belt armour increased. (using the plate armour intended for the Chilean battleship Almirante Cochrane). her horizontal armour was increased from 1-inch to 1.5 inch.

Answer: One

HMS King George V completed 11 Dec 1940, Vickers-Armstrong, was sold for scrap 20 January 1958.
HMS Prince of Wales completed 31 Mar 1941, Cammell Laird, and sunk by Japanese aircraft east of Malaya 10 Dec 1941.
HMS Duke of York completed 4 Nov 1941, John Brown, and sold for scrap 18 February 1958.
HMS Anson completed 29 Jun 1942, Swan Hunter, and sold for scrap 17 December 1957.
HMS Howe completed 29 Aug 1942, Fairfield, and sold for scrap 2 June 1958.

Answer: 4

Hit and sunk by 4 torpedoes from Japanese land based planes December 10, 1941, off Kuantan, Malaya in South China Sea (c 3-30'N, 104-30'E) and was in the company of HMS Repulse.

Answer: 'Z' Force

Force Z, HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, were stationed in Singapore at Churchill's insistence in the hope that their presence would help deter a Japanese attack. The aircraft carrier 'Indomitable' intended to accompany them, had been delayed by an accident in the West Indies and the ships therefore had to rely totally on shore-based air cover.