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.
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Judith Bunyan
Father Was on the Shop when it Sank
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2023
