N 3 37 E 104 20

Steel Comp: 1,180 Arm: 6 × 15 (3 × 2), 17 × 4, 6 × 3pdr; 2 × 21TT; 4 aircraft Armor: 9 belt, 5.8 deck Mach: geared turbines, 120,000 shp, 4 shafts; 31.5 kts Built: John Brown & Co., Clydebank, Scotland; 1916. HMS Repulse was one of two very fast battlecruisers ordered by the Admiralty in 1915 on the strength of the success of the Invincible-class ships over Admiral Graf von Spee's squadron at the Battle of the Falklands; the other was Renown. In World War I, Repulse's combat service with the Battle Cruiser Squadron was limited to a skirmish with German light cruisers in the Helgoland Bight on November 17, 1917. Following the war, her belt armor was increased to nine inches. During the interwar period she made several long cruises, including one around the world, and she served with the Home and Mediterranean fleets. When World War II began, Repulse served on convoy duty in the Atlantic, and in April 1940 she took part in various actions during the German invasion of Norway. In October 1941, she was sent to the Far East with HMS Prince of Wales of the Eastern Fleet under Admiral Sir Tom Phillips. They arrived at Singapore on December 2. Six days later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and began their drive into Southeast Asia. Also on December 8, Force Z, the two capital ships and the destroyers Electra, Express, and Tenedos, and HMAS Vampire—sortied to attack Japanese forces in southern Thailand. Force Z was sighted by submarine I-68 the next afternoon, but avoided further detection until 0220 on December 10. Shortly before dawn, the Japanese launched thirty-four land-based bombers and fifty-one torpedo-bombers, which attacked the two capital ships at 1115. The planes made three separate attacks, and Repulse sank at 1235, an hour before Prince of Wales.

HMS Repulse underwent major alterations in Portsmouth Dockyard between 1936 and 1939. These changes included the addition of a hanger and athwartship catapult, two cranes aft of the funnel which required the removal of two of the tripple 4 inch mounts. HMS Repulse, a 26,500-ton Renown class battlecruiser, was built at Clydebank, Scotland. Completed in August 1916, she joined the Grand Fleet following post-trials modifications and operated in the North Sea for the remainder of World War I. The light protection of this class of two battlecruisers was a considerable cause for concern and, soon after the Armistice, Repulse received an extensive refit. This significantly increased her armor, and her displacement, which rose some six-thousand tons. The work was completed in 1922, after which the ship began a peacetime career of fleet operations and long-distance cruises. In 1933-36, Repulse was again modernized, emerging with improved deck armor, a hangar and catapult for aircraft, and a greatly increased anti-aircraft gun battery. She operated with the Home Fleet in the North Sea and Atlantic during the first two years of the Second World War, taking part in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck in May 1941. Later in the year she was sent to the Far East, accompanying the new battleship Prince of Wales. The two ships arrived at Singapore just before Japan began the Pacific War. As soon as hostilities commenced, both steamed northwards to intercept a reported invasion force. While returning to Singapore on 10 December 1941, Repulse and Prince of Wales were attacked by Japanese high-level bombers and torpedo planes. Repulse was moderately damaged by bombs early in the action and was later hit by several torpedoes. After receiving this heavy underwater damage, she sank rapidly, followed less than an hour later by the Prince of Wales. Surcumbed to bombs and torpedo hits from Japanese aircraft in South China Sea with HMS Prince of Wales

" The Repulse is on her starboard side in about 55m of water, with the decks at about 30-35 degrees of angle the first impression was of being very broken but this is not true, the bridge area is badly damaged and the fighting tops spread out across the seabed but were shrouded with nets. Five inch side guns were very clean and lay with there barrels still pointing out to sea and as you swim to the bows the massive main armament lays with the twin barrels still elevated and at action stations, "A" and "B" turret are easily visible with "A" turrets guns at normal laying with the axis of the ship and "B"s at a more aggressive fighting angle. As these ships were so big (800 feet plus) the swim from bridge to bow is a long one, but on the day I did this swim I was amazed to see the tripod base of the Flagpole still lying there intact in its rightful place at the bow of the ship. The whole front section of the ship is held up off the seabed by the massive guns laying behind us and large hatches lay open on the decks, I cant help but think of the sailors feelings as she started to sink. "