When working for the ambulance service some years ago, I had the honour of attending a gentleman who'd served on HMS Prince if Wales, during its engagement with the Bismarck and also its sinking by the Japanese. I can only presume he's no longer with us now , one of that generation that gave so much in the second world War. I could have talked to him for hours, but only had about 20 minutes of his time, God bless him.
Sorry everyone but I've got a load of things to add to this great video that might be worth a read if your interested in the subject: I think something that often gets forgotten is the state of the royal navy and it's commitments in 1941. At this stage, the Italian navy could field 2 modern battleships in the form of the Littorio class in the Mediterranean, whilst the Royal Navy in that same theatre could field only vintage WW1 battleships like the Queen Elizabeth's. In terms of the modern capital ship's the Royal Navy had at this stage, one was part of the home fleet to handle the threat of second Bismarck class battleship Tirpitz in the North Sea, leaving the second, the Prince of Wales available for use. As it became clear that the Empire of Japan was descending down a warpath, the Admiralty suggested the deployment of the much older and outdated Revenge class to that theatre. For reference, the Revenge class were declared unsuitable for frontline service at the start of the war, and were set to be phased out by the modern battleships (the outbreak of WW2 delayed this). Churchill intervened and deployed the Prince of Wales instead, along with the Repulse believing it would serve as an elusive force that would tie down a disproportionate amount of the Japanese Navy in the same way the Bismarck's were to the British. The first sea lord Dudley Pound argued against this, but when Anthony Eden intervened with the argument that it could serve as a British Bismarck, the decision was made. They would go to the far east instead of the Mediterranean. The loss of 1 of only 2 modern battleships that the Royal Navy had in service until mid 1942 cannot be understated. Also to be noted was the fact that a lot is said about Admiral Phillips decision to proceed without air cover, but here are a few things that often get forgotten. The British had not come under any air attacks at sea more than 200 miles away from shore in any theatre of war. Force Z was 300 miles away from Japanese air bases and so it was assumed they were out of range of enemy bombers at that stage. Also to be added was that Admiral Phillips had been told that the Japanese did not have any torpedo bombers in the region by intelligence sources. This was correct when gathered but the following day, the most experienced bomber squadrons were flown in. This gave Phillips the belief that even if the force was located, the Japanese aircraft would be equipped with high explosive bombs for attacking land targets. The British force also set out under secrecy, with cloud cover and radio silence hoping to launch a surprise attack, and so they were not expecting to be located, let alone with aircraft equipped with weapons for attacking capital ships. It's also worth adding that a great deal of fuss had been raised by captain leach in prior months about the state of the anti aircraft guns on the Prince of Wales. Issues with the 2 pounder Pom Pom guns had been reported to the admiralty repeatedly and requests were made for additional AA armament but these calls fell on deaf ears. During the engagement, engineers were running from one gun to another to unjam them constantly. Add in the fact that the British were operating without tracer rounds and it's a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, the Aircraft Carrier HMS Indomitable had been assigned to provide air cover for the force, but the carrier struck a reef on route to the far east which forced it to turn back home for repairs. I have heard that the aircraft carrier Hermes was sent on route to also provide air cover, but i cannot find any evidence to back this claim. As for air cover, Percival believed 500 aircraft were needed to win the air war, but London disagreed arguing for 350. So naturally, they had 200 at the start of the air war. To make things worse, they sent Brewster Buffalo fighters, rather than spitfires and hurricanes. These were nicknamed the flying coffins. Against Japanese KI-43 fighters and Zero's they were helpless, so despite being crewed by battle of Britain veterans, the result was a total massacre. By the time London realised how bad things were, they attempted to send 50 Hurricanes to the theatre which were at best equal to Japanese Ki-43 fighters, and at best inferior to the Zero's, only arriving at the start of the battle for Singapore. They lost over 100 aircraft in the first day of the air war. Given how bad the air war was, the RAF and RAAF were unable to provide constant air cover, and told Phillips no air cover was available countless times, as they were doing everything they could just to keep the airfields covered. As for the sinking, another point that isn't mentioned is the significance of the initial torpedo hit on the Prince of Wales. As strange as it might seem, the first torpedo hit is what sealed the fate of the Prince of Wales. The remain torpedo hit's inflicted very little damage on the ship, hitting the torpedo protection belts which did their job effectively. To put it as simply as I can, the first torpedo hit the propeller shaft, which had zero torpedo protection due to the nature of it's role. This in essence was the Achilles heel of all capital ships, with flooding from this section and internal machinery damage being almost entirely fatal. Only one other ship suffered an identical hit - the modernised USS Pennsylvania in 1945. The Pennsylvania was hit in port by an air dropped torpedo, and almost went down. It was thanks to virtually all port facilities, engineers, emergency pumps, including it's own, and from other ships in the area that the ship was saved. Had it have been hit at sea, it's guaranteed to have sunk. The Prince of Wales was at sea, under constant air attack and needed the propeller to operate at maximum capacity putting further strain on the machinery, which is what doomed the ship. The engine rooms flooded rapidly, and power was mostly lost to the lights, high calibre anti aircraft guns, steering and ventilation across the ship. The radar guided AA guns already struggling in the high humidity were completely shut off and the ship went into a death spiral. A few other point to add for the Prince of Wales was that, as a treaty battleship, her armour, firepower and displacement were heavily limited thanks to the Washington naval treaty in 1922 (it would be well worth doing a video on that, as it was the treaty that put the Royal Navy and US Navy on equal footing with each other). This made her especially vulnerable to flooding. Making matters worse was that the Prince of Wales also skipped out on it's sea trials, being put to sea to hunt the Bismarck in such condition. Her civilian construction crew was still onboard when it was rushed into service to join the Hood at Denmark Straight, with it's aft turret not even functioning, and it's crew mostly untrained, and the ship mostly untested. Despite this, the battleship actually scored a remarkable hit rate, higher on average than that of any other ship at Denmark strait. Her fate was truly a tragic one. The loss of Force Z in the far east effectively paired with the fall of Singapore in marking the end of the British Empire in the far east as it was. The circumstance behind the sinking are a tragic series of unlucky events. Often it's blamed entirely on admiral Philips, or on poor design (Prince of Wales Torpedo protection belt was designed to withstand explosive charges twice the size of the one's in air dropped torpedoes, so it was seen as a failure when air dropped torpedoes sunk the ship. This was proved wrong when the wreck was uncovered and a damage assessment was done). The truth is different from what it's made out. A combination of bad luck, unfortunate circumstances, poor estimations, and stupidity on the side of London sank the Prince of Wales and Repulse, marking the beginning of the end for the British Empire in my humble opinion. It may be worth in future talking about the 1922 Washington naval treaty if you choose to cover more 20th century naval topics, as this is the turning point when the UK went from dominating the sea's to sharing the sea's as equals with the US.
even if air cover was present, result will remain the same since the japanese has superior air power than the british. the lack of air cover just make it an easy work. the decision to push through despite lack of air cover is clearly an underestimation of the japanese war capablity. meanwhile, the japanese knew wat will come if they attempted to snatch the colonizers' possession. not even that, japanese was also expecting a combined power
@@leexingha I would have to disagree with you on some of that. The decision to push through was due to the original defensive plans held that the Royal Navy would intercept any naval landings or at the very least disrupt them. Remember, the British themselves carried out the raid on Taranto, sinking 3 battleships in port with bi-planes, and mere days prior to setting out, pearl harbour was attacked by air with the loss of 8 battleships. They also carried out air attacks at Cape Mattapan and against the Bismarck. What i'm getting at is that the British were fully aware of the danger of air attacks on battleships and believed that they would have better luck out at sea, with room to manoeuvre, rather than sitting stationary in port. Repulse herself was able to dodge 21 torpedoes and numerous bombs before being hit, which ship's in port didn't have the luxury of, so this was to an extent true. It was either sit and wait for an air attack on port, or strike forward and under the event you come under air attack, you could at least manoeuvre, something the pearl harbour and Taranto battleships couldn't do. As for superior air power, the Japanese bombers lacked armour. This gave them greater range than their Italian and German counterparts, but it made them particularly vulnerable. Japanese fighters were not sent with them as escorts as they lacked the range needed from Japanese airfields to Force Z, and so it would be Japanese bombers with little to no armour and fighter cover, against Brewster Buffalo fighters from nearer British airfields. The Japanese would be unable to line up attacks with impunity and likely would not have been able to achieve anywhere close to the same success. Even the Buffalo fighters could have repelled about 60-70% of the bombers and made it impossible to attack in the way they did, but they ultimately weren't available. Chance's are, the Prince of Wales and Repulse would likely not have sunk in such a scenario. As or underestimation of the Japanese, you are to some extent correct. I read some pretty interesting things recently about ground force commanders like Gordon Bennet, who was an Australian nationalist. He drilled into his men that the Japanese were a terrible fighting force, who wouldn't even put up much of a fight, and came out with stuff mostly along the lines of racial stereotypes about Japan. He then drilled into his men that the British and Indian soldiers were cowardly and would not hesitate to fall back and abandon their positions the moment they encountered tough fighting, compromising the Australian's positions. So when the Japanese ferociously attacked, the desertion rate skyrocketed, with some men were pulling back left right and centre thinking their "cowardly" counterparts will have abandoned them having faced tough fighting. For Bennet, it was a combination of trying to rally his men against the British, and onto the side of Australian nationalism (Australian independence from the UK), and seeing the Japanese as inferior people. I do not think for 1 second that the Royal navy held any such beliefs though, as many Japanese attended British Naval Academies, used British built ships like the Kongo, and modelled themselves on the Royal Navy. I cannot comment on any other's as I simply do not know. I would just like to point out about Bennet though, that as soon as the campaign went to failure, and Singapore was about to fall, all military commanders surrendered and went with their men into captivity. bennet had gone missing when the surrender happened. turns out, he hit amongst the civilians on the last boat out of the city and fled to Australia where he then began to blame the British for the campaigns failure. Tells you all you need to know about the man. And sorry for the long response.
I would have to disagree with you on some of that. Four torpedoes along the length of the ship on one side exceeded what even a modern battleship was designed to take, even without hitting the propeller shaft. There was also an aerial bomb hit. The first torpedo as damaging as it was would not in and of itself have sunk the ship. For the aerial attack on the HMS Prince of Wales, the Japanese used Type 91 aerial torpedoes. The Type 91 torpedoes had a smaller warhead compared to the Long Lance, but they were still very effective. These torpedoes had a warhead size of approximately 205 kg (450 lbs) of explosives. I have this book which is probably the best book on the subject of Prince of Wales. They said that the propeller shaft damage led to the flooding of over 10,000 tons of water within an hour and in critical areas deep in the ship, affecting electrical power generation and propulsion systems. A mid-level seaman managed to shut it down within a couple minutes which limited the damage from being far worse. Given that was about 25% of the weight of the ship, they were in deep trouble. Then the ship could only do about 11 knots and was a sitting duck for more torpedo hits. The list of the ship interfered with the AA tracking. Four more solid torpedo hits doomed the ship. Middlebrook, Martin (1979). _The Sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse_. Penguin History. ISBN 0-7139-1042-9.
@@alanstevens1296 Part of that is true, but the torpedo protection belt on the Prince of Wales was designed to withstand a 1000lb warhead, and surveys of the wreck have shown that the torpedo bulkheads held where most of the torpedoes hit. The issue was the first torpedo which struck outside of the torpedo bulkhead section. Over the years, the exact nature off the damage was unknown and it was assumed that the torpedo defence systems were a critical failure, but this has been vindicated since. As for the aerial bomb, this contributed very little towards the sinking. It struck a section of the ship that had been turned into a makeshift medical bay, which certainly didn't help but never contributed to the ship losing buoyancy. The torpedo defence system held where struck, with only the 1st torpedo inflicting critical damage. The machinery holding the rotating shaft in place was knocked out of position by that hit. With the rotating shaft still turning, but not in any central position, it began to fatally compromise the Prince of Wales hull. From my understanding, almost half the ships entire length was opened up by the out of place oscillating shaft. This caused catastrophic flooding that quickly consumed her engine rooms, leaving her emergency pumps without power, not that they even could at that stage pump out more than was coming in at full capacity. That's where the bulk of the flooding was from. The ships own machinery being knocked out of it's position by that single torpedo hit on the ship's propeller shaft.
Chris, very well done, my friend, I think you are right on your observations of putting the decisions in a historical context. Up until that point of history, air supremacy was not considered strategic. Therefore, it would have been given little consideration. RIP to all of the sailors and officers lost on both ships. 😢
As I said Harry, we are all clever with hindsight, but as no ship had ever been lost on the high seas to a massed airborne attack, Phillips was rather blind as to what was about to happen.
From John Toland's book "But Not in Shame...", I read that the following day, some of the same Japanese bombers that sunk both ships flew over the battle site and dropped wreaths and flowers. It was still early in the war and a code of chivalry was still possible.
was that actually confirmed I have heard this aswell but i'm skeptical it happened. i remember reading to japanese had a healthy respect for the British empire in the early days of the war., thus the dropping of the wreath?
Despite protests from the Australians, the British had sent every piece of armour to the Soviets, which had left the Malayan peninsula unprotected. The Japanese knew that their light tanks would easily cope with allied infantry once its aircraft had been disposed of, which they attacked first. Again the British failed to heed the warnings from Australia about the lack of aircraft, even refusing to deliver fighters that had been paid for and the Americans also refused to sell fighters to Australia. Result was that Japanese aircraft could operate as they pleased, and Britain losing two ships as a consequence showed the complete lack of understanding the British had about how warfare had changed.
It’s worth noting that Captain John Leach of HMS Prince of Wales had a son who was a young midshipman in the Royal Navy at the time of his death . His son went on to became Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach (1923-2011), who was First Sea Lord during the Falklands War.
My Great Uncle (Rob PRICE) was a young lad serving on the Prince of Wales when it was Sunk,he was pulled aboard another Ship & tha5 was Sunk.He was captured & spent years in Burma losing several friends over the time under barbaric Japanese treatment .Until his death in 1988 he wouldn’t allow any Japanese products in his home & Hated the Japanese for the way they treated him & others
Just a few years ago the Royal Navy was asked to set up a board of enquiry and review this action - they concluded due to the lack and very low stocks of AA and AAA ammunition on both ships they should never have been told to set sail until they are been fully loaded and able to defend themselves without need to limit the number of rounds each gun could fire. Not sure if they address the communication issue of asking for help from the RAAF or having more ships in the fleet.
I was just teaching my son about HMS Hood and Bismarck. I told him that he'll learn the fate of HMS Prince of Wales. Then, all of a sudden, boom, this video showed up. Thank you sir,
My neighbour cut up a mature tree felled by storm Darragh last week, under all the ivy he found a carving of a battleship with the with words 'RIP HMS Hood 1941'...😢
When I was learning about WWII history years ago as a young man, this event gave me the biggest shock I ever experienced studying history. It was very lucky that the aircraft carrier component was missing, as the Japanese would have decimated British aircraft and sunk the carrier. It should be remembered that Admiral Phillips was dismissive of the threat of air attack on his ships, as related by Air Marshal Harris, who had recently shared an office with him.
One of the first things my father told me about WW2 was the sinking of these two capital ships. The news sent the whole British Commonwealth into panic.
Pretty much on the nose with regards to the decisions on the day. My father survived the sinking of the Prince of Wales and was picked up by the Express.
@stephenchappell7512 Yes, was given a rifle on landing in Singapore and told, ",You're in the army now". Shortly before Singapore fell, his commission came through and he was evacuated to Australia on one of the last tramp steamers to escape the colony.
@@FireMoon42 Phew that boat out almost certainly saved his life Coincidentally I saw an Australian TV interview here on TH-cam featuring some of the young survivors of the Repulse and surprisingly it was quite modern in style Search 'HMS Repulse interview with survivors Jan 1942'
The strategic importance of Malaysia can not be underestimated. We took so many critical supplys from them. The British commanders were pretty much obligated to fight for it.
@stephenchappell7512 Yeah, fore sure, it was a catch 22. Damned if they do. Damned if they don't. In war, you count on unexpected victories to turn things in your favour. To an extent. All soldiers are gamblers. All of war is calculated risk.
@@paulgibbons2320 Yes very true with one of Churchill's biggest regrets being reinforcing Singapore with the battle already lost rather than the far more strategically important Burma road
@stephenchappell7512 One of the many Gaffs he made. He was not popular because he got everything right. He was popular because we knew he would fight for every inch. An he kept going.
Excellent video 📹 Many years ago, I spoke to an old man who worked as a dockworker in Calcutta. There were rumours about 2 great battleships sunk by the Japanese. All the rumours were quashed.They were even denied. The rumours persisted. Finally, it was officially released to the press. A groan rang out in Calcutta. Then Singapore 🇸🇬 fell.
The British, and in particular the Royal Navy, probably underestimated the Japanese and their military power; one journalist even commenting that “their [the Japanese] planes were made of bamboo and paper and would probably disintegrate if you threw a tennis ball at them”. As we have learned from this video, they were tragically mistaken.
@@RetroGamesCollector Well, Captain Leach on the _Prince of Wales_ had doubts about the sufficiency of the British battleship squadron sent to the East Indies. But probably not many other British people were quite so realistic. After all, they still believed that “Britannia ruled the waves”.
In the later 1980s and early 1990s, I lived and worked in Kuantan, Malaysia. Every once in a while I heard stories from the locals about the loss of both ships, and the great shock to everyone, locals and "colonizers" alike. It's important to realize the sinkings, paired with the incredible advances the Japanese made in Thailand, and more so outward from Kota Bahru and down the Kra Peninsula, caught the British totally unprepared. As we in the US were similarly reeling from the shocks of Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, and elsewhere, we at the time couldn't grasp the fact that a supposedly "inferior" power and people were even capable of mounting such devastating and successful attacks. The British held similar, even arguably stronger convictions. They were VERY rattled not only with the loss of the heavy ships, but with the aerial attacks on Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and other places/targets. Most historians and analysts of the Pacific War also note the literally criminal lack of military supplies, the poorer quality aircraft, and a divided command structure that plagued the British right from the start. The Japanese enjoyed, and kept a tactical flexibility/adaptability right from the start as well. Their soldiers had/commandeered and used bicycles to move faster through Malaya, to get around Allied defenses and strong points, to cite one example. The locals who remembered what happened told me they could hear the Japanese coming long before they came in sight; they had worn out the rubber tires on the bicycles, but kept pedaling, riding the wheel rims. My historical "introduction" to these events was author-novelist Noel Barber's non-fiction work, Sinister Twilight; it's a good starting point to learn more of what happened.
Being caught "totally unprepared" is a strategy at which Britain's military high command have always excelled. Prior to Japan's attack I think that Britain was apt to send its passed-over and superannuated officers out to grass in the Pacific theatre, because there was no particular threat to reckon with, and all they had to do was keep the flag flying and the `natives' in order...
Phillip as an 'old and bold' officer brought up in the age of the big gun battleship could not have conceptualised the impact of carrier based air power in a blue water engagement that the Japanese had clearly recognised and were perfecting. The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse in such short order was a most devastating blow (that my late Australian mother remembered well), especially to the Allied powers like Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands as the Japanese took Singapore and moved south virtually unopposed. l have often wondered as our host here does, what would indeed have happened if Prince of Wales and Repulse task group had had an aircraft carrier with them. My understanding also is that land based air defence was disorganised and not available when needed. As a side note, l was in the Royal Australian Navy for 30 years odd and on one deployment to the South China Sea passed over the wreck of the Prince of Wales and located it by sonar. My memory is vague here, but l believe we conducted a memorial service at the site. Lest we forget.
My guess is that the aircraft carrier would've been sunk as well. The Japs were spying on the British force by submarine and obviously reported their strength and that there was no carrier and therefore no fighter protection. If there had been, the Japs would probably have sent a squadron of Zeros to suppress British carrier-borne fighters while their torpedo planes and bombers did their work...
I was discussing this with a work colleague only the other day. His grandfather had faked his dad's signature on his brother's papers to join the Royal Navy. His brother went to sea aged 15 and at 16 was lost on board HMS Prince of Wales when she sank. The brother carried the guilt of faking the signature through his life until he died of old age. Such a sad tale.
Excellent work Chris. The Australian prime minister John Curtin pressured and hounded Churchill for months about the impending Japanese invasion of Australia. This had a lot to do with the British sending thi task force.
At that point in WWII, combine RAF/RN operations were rare. Thereafter a few hiccups, the Allies formulated joint operations between all branches of the military.
Actually, it was the RAAF that Japan attacked first. The hapless British didn’t believe it until they had reports of their own ducking for cover hours later.
Excellent video Chris and especially not committing the error of armchair tacticians by viewing things through the 100% crystal clear 'retro-spectoscope'. You have done the right thing by all in presenting the despatch of Force Z within its correct context! One does wonder what would have happened to the Mediterranean convoys if the Axis pilots had deployed torpedo bombers AND the specialised pilot training the Japanese undertook. 'What if's; are pointless, however the effect of the timely presence of a squadron of the RAAF Buffaloes- as obsolete as they were- on unescorted bombers might have been enough to change the result? We will never know. May they all rest in peace.
Thanks for adding to my understanding of the story of these ships. My great uncle was a chief petty officer on the HMS PoW. He ended up becoming a Japanese prisoner of war after the sinking and died only a paltry few days before the end of the war. Your account confuses me on how he ended up captured.
HMS Express picked up 200 plus survivors. She probably dropped them of on the impregnable fortress Singapore which was surrendered on 15th February. British POWs were locked up in changi ( the lucky ones) or sent to worked on the death railway ( Bridge over the River Kwai). IF you ever visit Singapore beside all the glamour spots ( youtube will show) there is in a quiet part of Singapore which stood the Kranji War memorial dedicated to commonwealth forces in the failed defense of Singapore in 1942 and the Changi Chapel and Museum dedicated to POWs and Civilians interned in Changi during the war.
12:39 I doubt that Italian pilots trained similarly to the Japanese. Hypothetically Italy was ideally positioned to control much of the Mediterranean using naval air power, but failed completely.
The British had a small prewar fleet including submarines to defend Singapore. However after the unexpected quick defeat of France in 1940 and the removal of the French fleet from fighting the Italians in the Mediterranean Sea, the British units were all withdrawn back to Europe. The British only sent the POW and Repulse to Singapore as a last minute deterrent to prevent Japanese military action in SE Asia which failed. The subsequent surrender of the very large British army in Singapore on 15 Feb 1942 destroyed British colonial power and prestige in Asia. The British, French and Dutch colonies in SE Asia lived under Japanese occupation for more than 3 years.
POW was bloody unlucky. The first torpedo hit and )Wlidish’s restarting of the affected prop shaft) caused damage that was way more than the warhead should have caused. She effectively was a dead ship aft ,unmanouverable and with no power for 1/2 her AA weapons. That first hit made it inevitable that she would be sunk. The issue the RN had was that she was fighting against 3 powers across the globe. Probably the biggest overstretch in history. Was force z a failed bluff? Yeah,but what else could be sent? The ultimate insult is that Chinese have decimated both war graves .
What would have been said of Admiral Phillips and what action might have been taken against him had he not attempted to ntercept the Japanese invasion force?
The first capital ships sunk by air attack, at sea and ready for combat, ships had been sunk before in the war, notably off Crete earlier in the year but they were cruisers and destroyers.
A conflict of emotions for Churchill at this time. His heart agonising at the thought of all the sailors he had met and spoke to during his Atlantic journeys on the POW perishing to the bottom of the ocean. They would hang on his every word as he filled them in on the strategic world picture. Mixed in with the huge relief of America finally becoming involved the war - something all his political efforts had been put into for many many months beforehand.
Great video and topic. I didn't know that the British commanders actually had battle experience in Europe, weathering modern air attacks, with no ill effects. I also didn't appreciate that the Japanese Malaya landing targeted British ability to provide air cover east of Malaya. Finally, even if the British ships don't leave Singapore, they could have met the same fate as the American Hawaii fleet.
Aircraft sinking a Battleship, especially a modern one, is extremely hard. At Leyte Gulf, Musashi took 26 bomb hits and 14 torpedoes from most of 226 sorties of Avengers and Hellcats before she became metal confetti. POW wasn't so resilient, but the capital ships AA wasn't even close to 1944 standards.
Captain Leech's third son Sir Henry went on to be Admiral of the Fleet and was in command at the time of the Falklands War. Infact, he advised Prime Minister Thatcher that retaking the Falklands was achievable.
Great video Chris and thanks for putting into perspective the thinking of the day. It does seem odd that the British didn't think to establish some kind of fighter escort, or even a scout aircraft, for at least some part of the sortie, rather than wait for the enemy to show up with their own forces. Most likely it was the thinking of the day (once again) that underestimated the sophistication and power of the Japanese.
Australian PM Robert Menzies had put a number of conditions on the commitment of three or four AIF divisions to North Africa when asked by Churchill in 1940 which the British had agreed to. These related to the AIF remaining as a single, contiguous force under Australian command and that Singapore should be properly defended. Churchill subsequently provided numerous assurances about the state of Singapore defences to Menzies and his successors Fadden and Curtin throughout 1940 and 1941. As the Australians held him to his undertakings, Churchill blamed them for the loss of the two ships and the British 18th division which he had wanted to send to Burma.
Again another great video and yet another where one of the men named on the Basingstoke War Memorial is named, Petty Officer Stoker Patrick O'Leary HMS Repulse.
Completely, which is even more curios as we had previously been allied with them. You would think the british would have had both a healthier respect for their skills and understand their mindset better too.
Kind of ironic that a British air-launched torpedo in the stern was what crippled the Bismarck and ultimately led to its sinking - and which the Prince of Wales had actually earlier engaged, only for it, in turn, to suffer a Japanese air-launched torpedo in it's own stern which also crippled it. Maybe if the Ark Royal's entire flight had been dispatched against the slowed and crippled Bismarck instead of KG5 et al, that instead would've been the first capital ship lost exclusively to air power. Whatever the case, the lesson that capital ships were now highly vulnerable and could be rendered helpless by air-attack alone was played out right there in that battle. Hitler learnt a lesson and kept his remaining surface ships secluded, but the British - well, they needed an Oriental double-whammie before they got the message...
France suffered a humiliating defeat. Japan held against multiple countries for years, one of which outproduced it by a large margin. All but humiliating.
@@hashteraksgage3281 Defeat is no stranger to some Nations, the first defeat is the most humiliating. It was foolhardy leadership, that caused an unnecessary war, that caused defeat.
9:40 There was a C4 documentary about this battle. The RAF in Singapore, offered the Royal Navy air cover whilst the squadron sailed. The Admiral flat refused un his arrogance. Still the RAF, heard radio chatter and flew out an interception. As the RAF reached the fleet, they saw the two battleships rolling over. Even obsolete British fighters could have shot down the flimsy Mitsubishi bombers. If General Percival wasn't bluffed into surrendering Singapore, history would have been very slightly diffetent.
@@beachboy0505 to be fair he probably was (at first) trying to maintain radio silence,which if you squint you could probably understand. Why he never did it once discovered ? Who knows. Overconfidence? Why he decided to go and investigate a suspected cutter towing some barges with 2 capital ships and 3 destroyers is an interesting question. Hanging around of Kuantan turned out terminal. Percival couldn’t have known that the Japanese were almost spent and out of ammo. They also held all of the reservoirs. Had they knew how brutal the Japanese were to prisoners I suspect they would have fought on.
The daring British raid on Italys port at Taranto is what gave the Japanese the blueprint for the attack on Pearl Harbor! One celebrated as a wild success by the Allies and the other as devastation. One man however did NOT see Pearl Harbor as a devastation but an answer to his prayers! Winston Churchill finally had the US in the war and with the US n USSR, he knew at that moment that eventually the Allies would win.
Ironically in September 1921 Great Britain launched the Sempil mission where we gave technical assistance and training to Japan in the building of aircraft carriers and the operational aspects of air power in a marine theatre. That expertese was eventually turned against us and our allies.
its a double-edged sword. British used Japan as a deterrence against Russian' potential expansion in the east/south-east and against Germany. the reason Japan turn against them is the humiliation and US' constant nagging against Japan's ambition to expand. much like Italy when felt betrayed
Wasn't KMS Koenigsberg (a German cruiser) sunk by British Skua dive bombers during the Norwegian campaign (April 1940) the first warship underway sunk by aircraft? That pre-dates HMS Price of Wales and Repulse sinkings (Dec 1941).
Excellent video Chris. I always wondered about the story behind the sinking of those two ships. I doubt the British carrier would have made any difference if she was there. Could Swordfish torpedo planes have 17:53 stopped any of the Japanse aircraft? I don't think so🤔
Japan, already committed to a war in China, had already been sanctioned by the the USA, having their major source of both oil and steel cut off. Not defending Japanese aggression, but they didn’t have a lot of options open to them. It’s interesting that both at Pearl Harbor, and Malaysia, the aircraft carriers were conveniently absent.
Good video Chris....The loss of Force Z is full of "What ifs".....What if the Buffalo's had been called up earlier? The Japanese bombers would have been easy meat even for these terrible fighter planes....RIP to all those that perished,,,,
"An equally devastating blow to the Royal Navy"? Not hardly. Losing two capital ships and 840 souls, tragic though it was, does not come close to equaling the loss of life and materiel at Pearl.
Regretfully, both ships, designated war graves, are being illegally plundered by Chinese salvage merchants. The Malaysian navy has apprehended two Chinese vessels , one in 2023, the other this year.
If Indomitable had arrived with Force Z - she would have undoubtedly gone down too!! The FAA fighters and early war aircraft were mostly worse than what they faced, especially against Zeros - two capital ships would have become three!! Look what happened to the RAF squadrons tasked with defending Singapore!
I know I’ve said this before, but I still can’t understand how 30,000 Japanese soldiers got 90,000 British soldiers in a fortified position like Singapore,to surrender all hands. To me, that is the greatest debacle in modern military history. I cringe to think about how those 90,000 men spent the next five years in Japanese prisoner of war camps.
The British were close to running out of ammunition and couldn't resupply because the Japanese had control of the sea and air. They would have been starved into surrender within weeks. The RN wasn't going to risk sending a fleet down the Straits of Malacca to relieve Singapore firstly because there wasn't one available and secondly because it would have been blown out of the water by land based aircraft from Malaya. Same with ships arriving via the Sunda strait and the Lombok strait. The Japanese would also quickly surround Singapore by occupying Borneo, Java and Sumatra. Look at the map.
@ Nice story. Problem is, they surrendered quickly without even any serious resistance. There wasn’t even a siege. The Japanese were shocked at how soft the British appeared to be. The Americans held out at the Philippines/Corregidor to virtually the last bullet. As a former combat commander, I and every other soldier know, that’s the sworn duty of an officer in the military.
The mistake was continuing this mission after the aircraft carrier was unavailable. Once the ships were in the field they had to try to intervene but it was an expensive and pointless sacrifice!
Unbelievable that British Commanders didn't order these 2 ships to run for Perth Austalia to fight another day. Completely short sighted. Malaya & Singapore & Hong Kong were simply not protectable. surely Churchill knew this.
Singapore was a key asset. Churchill would not give it up. The problem was that it was designed against sea bourne assault not landward. The guns could turn landward (despite the myth),the problem was that they didn’t have high explosive rounds. Singapore also didn’t have adequate air power ,nor tanks. So it came down to the RN and the fortress. The RN was never going to do a runner from Singapore whilst it had 2 capital ships. They also knew the odds. Captain Leach told his son “I do not think that you know the odds we are up against “ in their last meeting in Singapore before Force Z sailed. Also up till this point,no battleship had been sunk at sea whilst free to manoeuvre. The RN had to do something. They almost did. Had it not been for a Japanese float plane dropping a flare they may have entered a night battle before they turned away. That chance passed and they had little to do other than return to Singapore. Fine margins sometimes.
No air cover to support them The aircraft carrier was immobilised earlier and no others around! Even the australian navy had none..billy mitchells warning was unheeded!
this rum fellow called history chap has endeared himself to us with his hard and sincere work on his posts ,,,i say old chap any word on Nigella Lawson ...would appreciate any clues ....from dicky ticker to another ....chin chin and carry on mate 👍✌
Oh YES, Chris me old mucker, THIS, the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse, which I've known about mainly due to a friend's story on the site Fanfiction, but as to the FULL details of said thing, which happened also on the very same day that Hitler himself declared war on America I'll remember to mention, well once again YOU'VE given me exactly that. And holy moly, those poor men, amongst their number Admiral Tom Phillips (who really was only doing his noble duty in wanting to try and defend Malaya from the earlier Japanese landings that had been done on it) and Captain John Leach, who went down with the two ships concerned upon the Japanese torpedoes hitting them, and after both ships had gained success in earlier battles, HMS Prince of Wales herself displaying what she could do for sure by downing some Italian planes whilst defending a vital convoy in the Mediterranean... Naval warfare after THIS certainly was never the same again, was it, you only need to look towards some of the Pacific battles of America vs Japan for one thing regarding that, ESPECIALLY the Battle of the Philippine Sea aka the Mariana's Turkey Shoot, when American Naval forces tasked with protecting the intended Mariana landings at Saipan, Tinian and Guam by their fellow soldiers successfully virtually destroyed almost a whole Japanese air force and then, in a VERY daring and risky evening air raid, caused big damage to the Japanese Naval fleet coming to cause trouble for said landings. THAT, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Mariana's Turkey Shoot, saw NO ships from both sides open fire on the other at all, it was all aircraft vs aircraft and then ships, all won by the Americans. And so, as it looks like you're at last returning to some WWII topics, a future topic being the largest and certainly VERY humiliating British military surrender in history at Singapore where 100,000 soldiers surrendered to the Japanese, which I'll CERTAINLY be ready for along with the one you've promised about the fall of Hong Kong on Christmas Day of '41 itself, THANK YOU once again, our TH-camr superstar. And I've also FINALLY done, prior to this new update too at that, your one from last year on General Sir Garnet Wolseley's Red River Expedition in 1870 itself, so FINALLY I now know EXACTLY about that and why it happened in the first place thanks to the desperations of the Métis people and Louis Riel, and just WHY Wolseley wanted the canoes he'd used on it for the Nile Expedition's attempt to rescue General Charles Gordon from Khartoum, said wanton desire though being a VERY costly mistake by Wolseley of course- another STUPENDOUS video by you for sure, Chris old bean. I saw your reply words yesterday btw, and THANK YOU ever so much for 'em I will say, they really touched me, and I'd very gladly be so if I didn't have such a busy life currently going on with myself personally, haha- no offense of course, but it's a TOTAL pleasure to be doing your videos every week *big smiles*
Max, you have raised so many good points (as usual). It is interesting to note that the very tactics that gave the Japanese their initial naval success were copied and mastered by the US (in particular) and turned on them. have a great weekend. Chris
Max as regards the fall of Singapore itself it's often not understood that Malaya's defending 'British' force consisted of 2 Indian division's and 1 Australian division whereas the single British division didn't arrive in Singapore until after Malaya's loss being ordered to surrender without a shot being fired
A lot of whistling past the graveyard. The Eyeties weren't the IJN and naval warfare was now 3 dimensional. PS Thailand ended up as Japan's only Asian ally. PPS The Brewster Buffalo was hideously inferior to Japanese aircraft, as was shown at Midway.
The next Battleships will be the Aircraft Carriers. They are understood to be extremely vulnerable to ballistic missiles, but this is yet to be proved. However, it seems totally improbable that a Carrier Group will be able to defend itself against a salvo of chinese ballistic missiles. There always were defences against submarines, but a ballistic missile is almost unstoppable, let alone a dozen fired against the same target. Not much can be done, I'm afraid.
it’s not so much told as the Pearl Harbor attack it is. Some authors from America mentioned that US authorities had already known the attack in advance. What about the British government in those days??
Guess the Brits forgot the lessons of the sole use of airpower in sinking the Itlaian battle fleet only one year prior, at Taranto November 1940. No wonder She lost Her Empire.
No Blame for Philips ,he was competent , did what he though right at the time at the place , it was a disaster but good luck thinking better than him then
@@TheHistoryChap , he had no choice once the first intercept had failed , either he tail back back to Singapore failing to support Northern Malaysia or kept looking for a chance to land a blow , he was a stout fighter and didn't had a moral choice , he would contest ! he didn't know how good or numerous the Japanese were matter of fact the Japanese planes were grossly over range and choose to attack even if they had to ditch afterward ,
@TheHistoryChap Wenn man die britischen Marschälle so ansieht.... Und anerkanische Generäle.... Wir habe heutzutage nix mehr. 🤣🤣🤣 Deshalb gleich überlaufen... Bevor mich ein Arsch verheizt. 🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽
When working for the ambulance service some years ago, I had the honour of attending a gentleman who'd served on HMS Prince if Wales, during its engagement with the Bismarck and also its sinking by the Japanese. I can only presume he's no longer with us now , one of that generation that gave so much in the second world War. I could have talked to him for hours, but only had about 20 minutes of his time, God bless him.
What a wonderful story. Yes, I bet you could have listened to ho for hours
The Prince of Wales was always an unlucky ship. The _Warspite_ and the _Belfast_ are good examples of RN lucky ships.
Sorry everyone but I've got a load of things to add to this great video that might be worth a read if your interested in the subject:
I think something that often gets forgotten is the state of the royal navy and it's commitments in 1941. At this stage, the Italian navy could field 2 modern battleships in the form of the Littorio class in the Mediterranean, whilst the Royal Navy in that same theatre could field only vintage WW1 battleships like the Queen Elizabeth's. In terms of the modern capital ship's the Royal Navy had at this stage, one was part of the home fleet to handle the threat of second Bismarck class battleship Tirpitz in the North Sea, leaving the second, the Prince of Wales available for use. As it became clear that the Empire of Japan was descending down a warpath, the Admiralty suggested the deployment of the much older and outdated Revenge class to that theatre. For reference, the Revenge class were declared unsuitable for frontline service at the start of the war, and were set to be phased out by the modern battleships (the outbreak of WW2 delayed this). Churchill intervened and deployed the Prince of Wales instead, along with the Repulse believing it would serve as an elusive force that would tie down a disproportionate amount of the Japanese Navy in the same way the Bismarck's were to the British. The first sea lord Dudley Pound argued against this, but when Anthony Eden intervened with the argument that it could serve as a British Bismarck, the decision was made. They would go to the far east instead of the Mediterranean. The loss of 1 of only 2 modern battleships that the Royal Navy had in service until mid 1942 cannot be understated.
Also to be noted was the fact that a lot is said about Admiral Phillips decision to proceed without air cover, but here are a few things that often get forgotten. The British had not come under any air attacks at sea more than 200 miles away from shore in any theatre of war. Force Z was 300 miles away from Japanese air bases and so it was assumed they were out of range of enemy bombers at that stage. Also to be added was that Admiral Phillips had been told that the Japanese did not have any torpedo bombers in the region by intelligence sources. This was correct when gathered but the following day, the most experienced bomber squadrons were flown in. This gave Phillips the belief that even if the force was located, the Japanese aircraft would be equipped with high explosive bombs for attacking land targets. The British force also set out under secrecy, with cloud cover and radio silence hoping to launch a surprise attack, and so they were not expecting to be located, let alone with aircraft equipped with weapons for attacking capital ships. It's also worth adding that a great deal of fuss had been raised by captain leach in prior months about the state of the anti aircraft guns on the Prince of Wales. Issues with the 2 pounder Pom Pom guns had been reported to the admiralty repeatedly and requests were made for additional AA armament but these calls fell on deaf ears. During the engagement, engineers were running from one gun to another to unjam them constantly. Add in the fact that the British were operating without tracer rounds and it's a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, the Aircraft Carrier HMS Indomitable had been assigned to provide air cover for the force, but the carrier struck a reef on route to the far east which forced it to turn back home for repairs. I have heard that the aircraft carrier Hermes was sent on route to also provide air cover, but i cannot find any evidence to back this claim.
As for air cover, Percival believed 500 aircraft were needed to win the air war, but London disagreed arguing for 350. So naturally, they had 200 at the start of the air war. To make things worse, they sent Brewster Buffalo fighters, rather than spitfires and hurricanes. These were nicknamed the flying coffins. Against Japanese KI-43 fighters and Zero's they were helpless, so despite being crewed by battle of Britain veterans, the result was a total massacre. By the time London realised how bad things were, they attempted to send 50 Hurricanes to the theatre which were at best equal to Japanese Ki-43 fighters, and at best inferior to the Zero's, only arriving at the start of the battle for Singapore. They lost over 100 aircraft in the first day of the air war. Given how bad the air war was, the RAF and RAAF were unable to provide constant air cover, and told Phillips no air cover was available countless times, as they were doing everything they could just to keep the airfields covered.
As for the sinking, another point that isn't mentioned is the significance of the initial torpedo hit on the Prince of Wales. As strange as it might seem, the first torpedo hit is what sealed the fate of the Prince of Wales. The remain torpedo hit's inflicted very little damage on the ship, hitting the torpedo protection belts which did their job effectively. To put it as simply as I can, the first torpedo hit the propeller shaft, which had zero torpedo protection due to the nature of it's role. This in essence was the Achilles heel of all capital ships, with flooding from this section and internal machinery damage being almost entirely fatal. Only one other ship suffered an identical hit - the modernised USS Pennsylvania in 1945. The Pennsylvania was hit in port by an air dropped torpedo, and almost went down. It was thanks to virtually all port facilities, engineers, emergency pumps, including it's own, and from other ships in the area that the ship was saved. Had it have been hit at sea, it's guaranteed to have sunk. The Prince of Wales was at sea, under constant air attack and needed the propeller to operate at maximum capacity putting further strain on the machinery, which is what doomed the ship. The engine rooms flooded rapidly, and power was mostly lost to the lights, high calibre anti aircraft guns, steering and ventilation across the ship. The radar guided AA guns already struggling in the high humidity were completely shut off and the ship went into a death spiral.
A few other point to add for the Prince of Wales was that, as a treaty battleship, her armour, firepower and displacement were heavily limited thanks to the Washington naval treaty in 1922 (it would be well worth doing a video on that, as it was the treaty that put the Royal Navy and US Navy on equal footing with each other). This made her especially vulnerable to flooding. Making matters worse was that the Prince of Wales also skipped out on it's sea trials, being put to sea to hunt the Bismarck in such condition. Her civilian construction crew was still onboard when it was rushed into service to join the Hood at Denmark Straight, with it's aft turret not even functioning, and it's crew mostly untrained, and the ship mostly untested. Despite this, the battleship actually scored a remarkable hit rate, higher on average than that of any other ship at Denmark strait. Her fate was truly a tragic one.
The loss of Force Z in the far east effectively paired with the fall of Singapore in marking the end of the British Empire in the far east as it was. The circumstance behind the sinking are a tragic series of unlucky events. Often it's blamed entirely on admiral Philips, or on poor design (Prince of Wales Torpedo protection belt was designed to withstand explosive charges twice the size of the one's in air dropped torpedoes, so it was seen as a failure when air dropped torpedoes sunk the ship. This was proved wrong when the wreck was uncovered and a damage assessment was done). The truth is different from what it's made out. A combination of bad luck, unfortunate circumstances, poor estimations, and stupidity on the side of London sank the Prince of Wales and Repulse, marking the beginning of the end for the British Empire in my humble opinion. It may be worth in future talking about the 1922 Washington naval treaty if you choose to cover more 20th century naval topics, as this is the turning point when the UK went from dominating the sea's to sharing the sea's as equals with the US.
Great to see your input. Many thanks for taking the time! 👍
even if air cover was present, result will remain the same since the japanese has superior air power than the british. the lack of air cover just make it an easy work. the decision to push through despite lack of air cover is clearly an underestimation of the japanese war capablity. meanwhile, the japanese knew wat will come if they attempted to snatch the colonizers' possession. not even that, japanese was also expecting a combined power
@@leexingha I would have to disagree with you on some of that. The decision to push through was due to the original defensive plans held that the Royal Navy would intercept any naval landings or at the very least disrupt them. Remember, the British themselves carried out the raid on Taranto, sinking 3 battleships in port with bi-planes, and mere days prior to setting out, pearl harbour was attacked by air with the loss of 8 battleships. They also carried out air attacks at Cape Mattapan and against the Bismarck. What i'm getting at is that the British were fully aware of the danger of air attacks on battleships and believed that they would have better luck out at sea, with room to manoeuvre, rather than sitting stationary in port. Repulse herself was able to dodge 21 torpedoes and numerous bombs before being hit, which ship's in port didn't have the luxury of, so this was to an extent true. It was either sit and wait for an air attack on port, or strike forward and under the event you come under air attack, you could at least manoeuvre, something the pearl harbour and Taranto battleships couldn't do.
As for superior air power, the Japanese bombers lacked armour. This gave them greater range than their Italian and German counterparts, but it made them particularly vulnerable. Japanese fighters were not sent with them as escorts as they lacked the range needed from Japanese airfields to Force Z, and so it would be Japanese bombers with little to no armour and fighter cover, against Brewster Buffalo fighters from nearer British airfields. The Japanese would be unable to line up attacks with impunity and likely would not have been able to achieve anywhere close to the same success. Even the Buffalo fighters could have repelled about 60-70% of the bombers and made it impossible to attack in the way they did, but they ultimately weren't available. Chance's are, the Prince of Wales and Repulse would likely not have sunk in such a scenario.
As or underestimation of the Japanese, you are to some extent correct. I read some pretty interesting things recently about ground force commanders like Gordon Bennet, who was an Australian nationalist. He drilled into his men that the Japanese were a terrible fighting force, who wouldn't even put up much of a fight, and came out with stuff mostly along the lines of racial stereotypes about Japan. He then drilled into his men that the British and Indian soldiers were cowardly and would not hesitate to fall back and abandon their positions the moment they encountered tough fighting, compromising the Australian's positions. So when the Japanese ferociously attacked, the desertion rate skyrocketed, with some men were pulling back left right and centre thinking their "cowardly" counterparts will have abandoned them having faced tough fighting. For Bennet, it was a combination of trying to rally his men against the British, and onto the side of Australian nationalism (Australian independence from the UK), and seeing the Japanese as inferior people. I do not think for 1 second that the Royal navy held any such beliefs though, as many Japanese attended British Naval Academies, used British built ships like the Kongo, and modelled themselves on the Royal Navy. I cannot comment on any other's as I simply do not know. I would just like to point out about Bennet though, that as soon as the campaign went to failure, and Singapore was about to fall, all military commanders surrendered and went with their men into captivity. bennet had gone missing when the surrender happened. turns out, he hit amongst the civilians on the last boat out of the city and fled to Australia where he then began to blame the British for the campaigns failure. Tells you all you need to know about the man.
And sorry for the long response.
I would have to disagree with you on some of that.
Four torpedoes along the length of the ship on one side exceeded what even a modern battleship was designed to take, even without hitting the propeller shaft. There was also an aerial bomb hit.
The first torpedo as damaging as it was would not in and of itself have sunk the ship.
For the aerial attack on the HMS Prince of Wales, the Japanese used Type 91 aerial torpedoes. The Type 91 torpedoes had a smaller warhead compared to the Long Lance, but they were still very effective. These torpedoes had a warhead size of approximately 205 kg (450 lbs) of explosives.
I have this book which is probably the best book on the subject of Prince of Wales.
They said that the propeller shaft damage led to the flooding of over 10,000 tons of water within an hour and in critical areas deep in the ship, affecting electrical power generation and propulsion systems. A mid-level seaman managed to shut it down within a couple minutes which limited the damage from being far worse.
Given that was about 25% of the weight of the ship, they were in deep trouble. Then the ship could only do about 11 knots and was a sitting duck for more torpedo hits. The list of the ship interfered with the AA tracking. Four more solid torpedo hits doomed the ship.
Middlebrook, Martin (1979). _The Sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse_. Penguin History. ISBN 0-7139-1042-9.
@@alanstevens1296 Part of that is true, but the torpedo protection belt on the Prince of Wales was designed to withstand a 1000lb warhead, and surveys of the wreck have shown that the torpedo bulkheads held where most of the torpedoes hit. The issue was the first torpedo which struck outside of the torpedo bulkhead section. Over the years, the exact nature off the damage was unknown and it was assumed that the torpedo defence systems were a critical failure, but this has been vindicated since. As for the aerial bomb, this contributed very little towards the sinking. It struck a section of the ship that had been turned into a makeshift medical bay, which certainly didn't help but never contributed to the ship losing buoyancy.
The torpedo defence system held where struck, with only the 1st torpedo inflicting critical damage. The machinery holding the rotating shaft in place was knocked out of position by that hit. With the rotating shaft still turning, but not in any central position, it began to fatally compromise the Prince of Wales hull. From my understanding, almost half the ships entire length was opened up by the out of place oscillating shaft. This caused catastrophic flooding that quickly consumed her engine rooms, leaving her emergency pumps without power, not that they even could at that stage pump out more than was coming in at full capacity. That's where the bulk of the flooding was from. The ships own machinery being knocked out of it's position by that single torpedo hit on the ship's propeller shaft.
Chris, very well done, my friend, I think you are right on your observations of putting the decisions in a historical context. Up until that point of history, air supremacy was not considered strategic. Therefore, it would have been given little consideration. RIP to all of the sailors and officers lost on both ships. 😢
As I said Harry, we are all clever with hindsight, but as no ship had ever been lost on the high seas to a massed airborne attack, Phillips was rather blind as to what was about to happen.
Bight?@@TheHistoryChap
From John Toland's book "But Not in Shame...", I read that the following day, some of the same Japanese bombers that sunk both ships flew over the battle site and dropped wreaths and flowers. It was still early in the war and a code of chivalry was still possible.
was that actually confirmed I have heard this aswell but i'm skeptical it happened.
i remember reading to japanese had a healthy respect for the British empire in the early days of the war., thus the dropping of the wreath?
Despite protests from the Australians, the British had sent every piece of armour to the Soviets, which had left the Malayan peninsula unprotected. The Japanese knew that their light tanks would easily cope with allied infantry once its aircraft had been disposed of, which they attacked first. Again the British failed to heed the warnings from Australia about the lack of aircraft, even refusing to deliver fighters that had been paid for and the Americans also refused to sell fighters to Australia. Result was that Japanese aircraft could operate as they pleased, and Britain losing two ships as a consequence showed the complete lack of understanding the British had about how warfare had changed.
There were an awful lot of stuffed shirts in Britain's high command, both in that war and the one before...
Another great decision made by Winnie.😂
It’s worth noting that Captain John Leach of HMS Prince of Wales had a son who was a young midshipman in the Royal Navy at the time of his death .
His son went on to became Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach (1923-2011), who was First Sea Lord during the Falklands War.
My Great Uncle (Rob PRICE) was a young lad serving on the Prince of Wales when it was Sunk,he was pulled aboard another Ship & tha5 was Sunk.He was captured & spent years in Burma losing several friends over the time under barbaric Japanese treatment .Until his death in 1988 he wouldn’t allow any Japanese products in his home & Hated the Japanese for the way they treated him & others
Another excellent piece. Well done.
Many thanks for your support.
Just a few years ago the Royal Navy was asked to set up a board of enquiry and review this action - they concluded due to the lack and very low stocks of AA and AAA ammunition on both ships they should never have been told to set sail until they are been fully loaded and able to defend themselves without need to limit the number of rounds each gun could fire.
Not sure if they address the communication issue of asking for help from the RAAF or having more ships in the fleet.
I'm glad you covered this Chris! Many thanks for posting.
11:15 Cruisers Fiji and Gloucester were sunk off Crete by air attack in May-41.
One of the most important lessons to be learned in Singapore’s History of WW2. No air power = naval power will be feeding the fishes soon.
I was just teaching my son about HMS Hood and Bismarck. I told him that he'll learn the fate of HMS Prince of Wales. Then, all of a sudden, boom, this video showed up. Thank you sir,
My neighbour cut up a mature tree felled by storm Darragh last week, under all the ivy he found a carving of a battleship with the with words 'RIP HMS Hood 1941'...😢
When I was learning about WWII history years ago as a young man, this event gave me the biggest shock I ever experienced studying history. It was very lucky that the aircraft carrier component was missing, as the Japanese would have decimated British aircraft and sunk the carrier. It should be remembered that Admiral Phillips was dismissive of the threat of air attack on his ships, as related by Air Marshal Harris, who had recently shared an office with him.
Gen. Billy Mitchell must have shouting from his grave, "See, I told you would happen! "
One of the first things my father told me about WW2 was the sinking of these two capital ships. The news sent the whole British Commonwealth into panic.
I bet it did...one quite a few levels.
Pretty much on the nose with regards to the decisions on the day. My father survived the sinking of the Prince of Wales and was picked up by the Express.
Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it was a pretty awful time for your father.
Did he manage to make it out of Singapore too?
@stephenchappell7512 Yes, was given a rifle on landing in Singapore and told, ",You're in the army now".
Shortly before Singapore fell, his commission came through and he was evacuated to Australia on one of the last tramp steamers to escape the colony.
@@FireMoon42
Phew
that boat out almost certainly saved his life
Coincidentally I saw an Australian TV interview here on TH-cam featuring some of the young survivors of the Repulse and surprisingly it was quite modern in style
Search 'HMS Repulse interview with survivors Jan 1942'
The strategic importance of Malaysia can not be underestimated. We took so many critical supplys from them. The British commanders were pretty much obligated to fight for it.
only in that point of the war the British were in no position to do so
@stephenchappell7512 Yeah, fore sure, it was a catch 22. Damned if they do. Damned if they don't. In war, you count on unexpected victories to turn things in your favour. To an extent. All soldiers are gamblers. All of war is calculated risk.
@@paulgibbons2320
Yes very true with one of Churchill's biggest regrets being reinforcing Singapore with the battle already lost rather than the far more strategically important Burma road
@stephenchappell7512 One of the many Gaffs he made. He was not popular because he got everything right. He was popular because we knew he would fight for every inch. An he kept going.
@@paulgibbons2320
basically he was elbowed aside by the notoriously fiery CIGS Alan Brooke who took charge of strategy from that point on
Another excellent presentation thank you
Excellent video 📹
Many years ago, I spoke to an old man who worked as a dockworker in Calcutta.
There were rumours about 2 great battleships sunk by the Japanese.
All the rumours were quashed.They were even denied.
The rumours persisted. Finally, it was officially released to the press.
A groan rang out in Calcutta. Then Singapore 🇸🇬 fell.
The British, and in particular the Royal Navy, probably underestimated the Japanese and their military power; one journalist even commenting that “their [the Japanese] planes were made of bamboo and paper and would probably disintegrate if you threw a tennis ball at them”. As we have learned from this video, they were tragically mistaken.
British cockiness at its finest.
You can't guess what the British military thought of the Japanese from one journalist's throw away remark surely?
@@RetroGamesCollector Well, Captain Leach on the _Prince of Wales_ had doubts about the sufficiency of the British battleship squadron sent to the East Indies. But probably not many other British people were quite so realistic. After all, they still believed that “Britannia ruled the waves”.
Considering how well Britain's own `wooden wonder' Mosquito performed, I wouldn't have been too dismissive of bamboo and paper...
I have a book signed by a Marine who survived the sinking, fought as one of the Plymouth Argyles, and listed all the camps he was in. God Bless Him.
Another brilliant tail told very well. Thank you Chris.
In the later 1980s and early 1990s, I lived and worked in Kuantan, Malaysia. Every once in a while I heard stories from the locals about the loss of both ships, and the great shock to everyone, locals and "colonizers" alike. It's important to realize the sinkings, paired with the incredible advances the Japanese made in Thailand, and more so outward from Kota Bahru and down the Kra Peninsula, caught the British totally unprepared. As we in the US were similarly reeling from the shocks of Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, and elsewhere, we at the time couldn't grasp the fact that a supposedly "inferior" power and people were even capable of mounting such devastating and successful attacks. The British held similar, even arguably stronger convictions. They were VERY rattled not only with the loss of the heavy ships, but with the aerial attacks on Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and other places/targets.
Most historians and analysts of the Pacific War also note the literally criminal lack of military supplies, the poorer quality aircraft, and a divided command structure that plagued the British right from the start. The Japanese enjoyed, and kept a tactical flexibility/adaptability right from the start as well. Their soldiers had/commandeered and used bicycles to move faster through Malaya, to get around Allied defenses and strong points, to cite one example. The locals who remembered what happened told me they could hear the Japanese coming long before they came in sight; they had worn out the rubber tires on the bicycles, but kept pedaling, riding the wheel rims.
My historical "introduction" to these events was author-novelist Noel Barber's non-fiction work, Sinister Twilight; it's a good starting point to learn more of what happened.
Being caught "totally unprepared" is a strategy at which Britain's military high command have always excelled. Prior to Japan's attack I think that Britain was apt to send its passed-over and superannuated officers out to grass in the Pacific theatre, because there was no particular threat to reckon with, and all they had to do was keep the flag flying and the `natives' in order...
Thanks Chris, great telling of a really important story , Cheers
Phillip as an 'old and bold' officer brought up in the age of the big gun battleship could not have conceptualised the impact of carrier based air power in a blue water engagement that the Japanese had clearly recognised and were perfecting. The loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse in such short order was a most devastating blow (that my late Australian mother remembered well), especially to the Allied powers like Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands as the Japanese took Singapore and moved south virtually unopposed.
l have often wondered as our host here does, what would indeed have happened if Prince of Wales and Repulse task group had had an aircraft carrier with them. My understanding also is that land based air defence was disorganised and not available when needed.
As a side note, l was in the Royal Australian Navy for 30 years odd and on one deployment to the South China Sea passed over the wreck of the Prince of Wales and located it by sonar. My memory is vague here, but l believe we conducted a memorial service at the site. Lest we forget.
My guess is that the aircraft carrier would've been sunk as well. The Japs were spying on the British force by submarine and obviously reported their strength and that there was no carrier and therefore no fighter protection. If there had been, the Japs would probably have sent a squadron of Zeros to suppress British carrier-borne fighters while their torpedo planes and bombers did their work...
I was discussing this with a work colleague only the other day. His grandfather had faked his dad's signature on his brother's papers to join the Royal Navy. His brother went to sea aged 15 and at 16 was lost on board HMS Prince of Wales when she sank. The brother carried the guilt of faking the signature through his life until he died of old age. Such a sad tale.
Hi Chris, I am enjoying your telling of 20th Century Royal Navy battles and engagements. I appreciate your balanced comments on hindsight.
Love a bit of naval history, thanks Chris
I can't imagine being in London and reading that in the newspaper. Dark times.
Fantastic history lesson about a part of WW II that is rarely taught
Excellent work Chris. The Australian prime minister John Curtin pressured and hounded Churchill for months about the impending Japanese invasion of Australia. This had a lot to do with the British sending thi task force.
Very good video.a lot of information I had never known. I had often wondered what happened and never been informed. Thank you
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend.
@TheHistoryChap you too!
At that point in WWII, combine RAF/RN operations were rare. Thereafter a few hiccups, the Allies formulated joint operations between all branches of the military.
never realised japan hit us first ,learn something new everyday . Many thanks
By 30 minutes - not that long really in the scheme of things. But another interesting fact from this channel.
Actually, it was the RAAF that Japan attacked first. The hapless British didn’t believe it until they had reports of their own ducking for cover hours later.
Excellent video Chris and especially not committing the error of armchair tacticians by viewing things through the 100% crystal clear 'retro-spectoscope'. You have done the right thing by all in presenting the despatch of Force Z within its correct context! One does wonder what would have happened to the Mediterranean convoys if the Axis pilots had deployed torpedo bombers AND the specialised pilot training the Japanese undertook. 'What if's; are pointless, however the effect of the timely presence of a squadron of the RAAF Buffaloes- as obsolete as they were- on unescorted bombers might have been enough to change the result? We will never know. May they all rest in peace.
Glad you liked it. You've raised another fascinating "What If?" regarding Axis air crews copying the Japanese tactics. Many thanks.
Thanks for adding to my understanding of the story of these ships. My great uncle was a chief petty officer on the HMS PoW. He ended up becoming a Japanese prisoner of war after the sinking and died only a paltry few days before the end of the war. Your account confuses me on how he ended up captured.
HMS Express picked up 200 plus survivors. She probably dropped them of on the impregnable fortress Singapore which was surrendered on 15th February. British POWs were locked up in changi ( the lucky ones) or sent to worked on the death railway ( Bridge over the River Kwai). IF you ever visit Singapore beside all the glamour spots ( youtube will show) there is in a quiet part of Singapore which stood the Kranji War memorial dedicated to commonwealth forces in the failed defense of Singapore in 1942 and the Changi Chapel and Museum dedicated to POWs and Civilians interned in Changi during the war.
12:39 I doubt that Italian pilots trained similarly to the Japanese. Hypothetically Italy was ideally positioned to control much of the Mediterranean using naval air power, but failed completely.
The British had a small prewar fleet including submarines to defend Singapore. However after the unexpected quick defeat of France in 1940 and the removal of the French fleet from fighting the Italians in the Mediterranean Sea, the British units were all withdrawn back to Europe. The British only sent the POW and Repulse to Singapore as a last minute deterrent to prevent Japanese military action in SE Asia which failed. The subsequent surrender of the very large British army in Singapore on 15 Feb 1942 destroyed British colonial power and prestige in Asia. The British, French and Dutch colonies in SE Asia lived under Japanese occupation for more than 3 years.
POW was bloody unlucky. The first torpedo hit and )Wlidish’s restarting of the affected prop shaft) caused damage that was way more than the warhead should have caused. She effectively was a dead ship aft ,unmanouverable and with no power for 1/2 her AA weapons.
That first hit made it inevitable that she would be sunk.
The issue the RN had was that she was fighting against 3 powers across the globe. Probably the biggest overstretch in history. Was force z a failed bluff? Yeah,but what else could be sent?
The ultimate insult is that Chinese have decimated both war graves .
Thanks!
Thank you for this video Chris, I lost one family tree member on each of Prince of Wales and Repulse!
What would have been said of Admiral Phillips and what action might have been taken against him had he not attempted to ntercept the Japanese invasion force?
Thanks so much Chris,awsome as always. You just have the edge over Philomena Cunk lol take care
Good Story. Thnaks.
The first capital ships sunk by air attack, at sea and ready for combat, ships had been sunk before in the war, notably off Crete earlier in the year but they were cruisers and destroyers.
A conflict of emotions for Churchill at this time. His heart agonising at the thought of all the sailors he had met and spoke to during his Atlantic journeys on the POW perishing to the bottom of the ocean. They would hang on his every word as he filled them in on the strategic world picture. Mixed in with the huge relief of America finally becoming involved the war - something all his political efforts had been put into for many many months beforehand.
Great video and topic. I didn't know that the British commanders actually had battle experience in Europe, weathering modern air attacks, with no ill effects. I also didn't appreciate that the Japanese Malaya landing targeted British ability to provide air cover east of Malaya. Finally, even if the British ships don't leave Singapore, they could have met the same fate as the American Hawaii fleet.
Two beautiful ships went down for no good reason. What a shame.
Aircraft sinking a Battleship, especially a modern one, is extremely hard.
At Leyte Gulf, Musashi took 26 bomb hits and 14 torpedoes from most of 226 sorties of Avengers and Hellcats before she became metal confetti. POW wasn't so resilient, but the capital ships AA wasn't even close to 1944 standards.
he took part in the swordfish Bismarck experience....he should have known the danger...again steering problems
Captain Leech's third son Sir Henry went on to be Admiral of the Fleet and was in command at the time of the Falklands War. Infact, he advised Prime Minister Thatcher that retaking the Falklands was achievable.
Thanks for sharing
Due to Churchill's incompetence ( not for the first time- Gallipoli ) , he sent the ships without air support as Indomitable was under repairs.
As was mentioned in the video
Great video Chris and thanks for putting into perspective the thinking of the day. It does seem odd that the British didn't think to establish some kind of fighter escort, or even a scout aircraft, for at least some part of the sortie, rather than wait for the enemy to show up with their own forces. Most likely it was the thinking of the day (once again) that underestimated the sophistication and power of the Japanese.
Australian PM Robert Menzies had put a number of conditions on the commitment of three or four AIF divisions to North Africa when asked by Churchill in 1940 which the British had agreed to. These related to the AIF remaining as a single, contiguous force under Australian command and that Singapore should be properly defended.
Churchill subsequently provided numerous assurances about the state of Singapore defences to Menzies and his successors Fadden and Curtin throughout 1940 and 1941.
As the Australians held him to his undertakings, Churchill blamed them for the loss of the two ships and the British 18th division which he had wanted to send to Burma.
Again another great video and yet another where one of the men named on the Basingstoke War Memorial is named, Petty Officer Stoker Patrick O'Leary HMS Repulse.
We underestimated both the military skills and cruelty of the Japanese military
Completely, which is even more curios as we had previously been allied with them. You would think the british would have had both a healthier respect for their skills and understand their mindset better too.
Kind of ironic that a British air-launched torpedo in the stern was what crippled the Bismarck and ultimately led to its sinking - and which the Prince of Wales had actually earlier engaged, only for it, in turn, to suffer a Japanese air-launched torpedo in it's own stern which also crippled it. Maybe if the Ark Royal's entire flight had been dispatched against the slowed and crippled Bismarck instead of KG5 et al, that instead would've been the first capital ship lost exclusively to air power. Whatever the case, the lesson that capital ships were now highly vulnerable and could be rendered helpless by air-attack alone was played out right there in that battle. Hitler learnt a lesson and kept his remaining surface ships secluded, but the British - well, they needed an Oriental double-whammie before they got the message...
As a deterrent to all future wars, the Japanese just won a battle but would later suffer a humiliating defeat in the war.
France suffered a humiliating defeat. Japan held against multiple countries for years, one of which outproduced it by a large margin. All but humiliating.
@@hashteraksgage3281 Defeat is no stranger to some Nations, the first defeat is the most humiliating. It was foolhardy leadership, that caused an unnecessary war, that caused defeat.
15:24 Might better sea/air coordination beforehand have helped? Just thinking out loud.
9:40
There was a C4 documentary about this battle.
The RAF in Singapore, offered the Royal Navy air cover whilst the squadron sailed.
The Admiral flat refused un his arrogance.
Still the RAF, heard radio chatter and flew out an interception.
As the RAF reached the fleet, they saw the two battleships rolling over.
Even obsolete British fighters could have shot down the flimsy Mitsubishi bombers.
If General Percival wasn't bluffed into surrendering Singapore, history would have been very slightly diffetent.
@@beachboy0505 to be fair he probably was (at first) trying to maintain radio silence,which if you squint you could probably understand. Why he never did it once discovered ? Who knows. Overconfidence?
Why he decided to go and investigate a suspected cutter towing some barges with 2 capital ships and 3 destroyers is an interesting question. Hanging around of Kuantan turned out terminal.
Percival couldn’t have known that the Japanese were almost spent and out of ammo. They also held all of the reservoirs. Had they knew how brutal the Japanese were to prisoners I suspect they would have fought on.
The daring British raid on Italys port at Taranto is what gave the Japanese the blueprint for the attack on Pearl Harbor! One celebrated as a wild success by the Allies and the other as devastation. One man however did NOT see Pearl Harbor as a devastation but an answer to his prayers! Winston Churchill finally had the US in the war and with the US n USSR, he knew at that moment that eventually the Allies would win.
Ironically in September 1921 Great Britain launched the Sempil mission where we gave technical assistance and training to Japan in the building of aircraft carriers and the operational aspects of air power in a marine theatre. That expertese was eventually turned against us and our allies.
its a double-edged sword. British used Japan as a deterrence against Russian' potential expansion in the east/south-east and against Germany. the reason Japan turn against them is the humiliation and US' constant nagging against Japan's ambition to expand. much like Italy when felt betrayed
Wasn't KMS Koenigsberg (a German cruiser) sunk by British Skua dive bombers during the Norwegian campaign (April 1940) the first warship underway sunk by aircraft? That pre-dates HMS Price of Wales and Repulse sinkings (Dec 1941).
Excellent video Chris. I always wondered about the story behind the sinking of those two ships. I doubt the British carrier would have made any difference if she was there. Could Swordfish torpedo planes have 17:53 stopped any of the Japanse aircraft? I don't think so🤔
11:08 My comment anticipated your question! I can't say that I would have done differently.
Japan, already committed to a war in China, had already been sanctioned by the the USA, having their major source of both oil and steel cut off. Not defending Japanese aggression, but they didn’t have a lot of options open to them.
It’s interesting that both at Pearl Harbor, and Malaysia, the aircraft carriers were conveniently absent.
Good video Chris....The loss of Force Z is full of "What ifs".....What if the Buffalo's had been called up earlier? The Japanese bombers would have been easy meat even for these terrible fighter planes....RIP to all those that perished,,,,
"An equally devastating blow to the Royal Navy"? Not hardly. Losing two capital ships and 840 souls, tragic though it was, does not come close to equaling the loss of life and materiel at Pearl.
it depends on circumstance. 2 is much more valuable than 10 of others if u cant afford to lose them
Regretfully, both ships, designated war graves, are being illegally plundered by Chinese salvage merchants. The Malaysian navy has apprehended two Chinese vessels , one in 2023, the other this year.
If Indomitable had arrived with Force Z - she would have undoubtedly gone down too!! The FAA fighters and early war aircraft were mostly worse than what they faced, especially against Zeros - two capital ships would have become three!! Look what happened to the RAF squadrons tasked with defending Singapore!
I know I’ve said this before, but I still can’t understand how 30,000 Japanese soldiers got 90,000 British soldiers in a fortified position like Singapore,to surrender all hands. To me, that is the greatest debacle in modern military history. I cringe to think about how those 90,000 men spent the next five years in Japanese prisoner of war camps.
The British were close to running out of ammunition and couldn't resupply because the Japanese had control of the sea and air. They would have been starved into surrender within weeks.
The RN wasn't going to risk sending a fleet down the Straits of Malacca to relieve Singapore firstly because there wasn't one available and secondly because it would have been blown out of the water by land based aircraft from Malaya. Same with ships arriving via the Sunda strait and the Lombok strait.
The Japanese would also quickly surround Singapore by occupying Borneo, Java and Sumatra.
Look at the map.
@ Nice story. Problem is, they surrendered quickly without even any serious resistance. There wasn’t even a siege. The Japanese were shocked at how soft the British appeared to be. The Americans held out at the Philippines/Corregidor to virtually the last bullet. As a former combat commander, I and every other soldier know, that’s the sworn duty of an officer in the military.
The mistake was continuing this mission after the aircraft carrier was unavailable. Once the ships were in the field they had to try to intervene but it was an expensive and pointless sacrifice!
Unbelievable that British Commanders didn't order these 2 ships to run for Perth Austalia to fight another day. Completely short sighted. Malaya & Singapore & Hong Kong were simply not protectable. surely Churchill knew this.
Singapore was a key asset. Churchill would not give it up. The problem was that it was designed against sea bourne assault not landward. The guns could turn landward (despite the myth),the problem was that they didn’t have high explosive rounds. Singapore also didn’t have adequate air power ,nor tanks.
So it came down to the RN and the fortress. The RN was never going to do a runner from Singapore whilst it had 2 capital ships. They also knew the odds. Captain Leach told his son “I do not think that you know the odds we are up against “ in their last meeting in Singapore before Force Z sailed.
Also up till this point,no battleship had been sunk at sea whilst free to manoeuvre.
The RN had to do something. They almost did. Had it not been for a Japanese float plane dropping a flare they may have entered a night battle before they turned away. That chance passed and they had little to do other than return to Singapore.
Fine margins sometimes.
How about Oliver Cromwell? Dragheda?
Why didn’t the radio operators on the British ships detect the Japanese submarine radio transmissions?
15:56 R.I.P
No air cover to support them
The aircraft carrier was immobilised earlier and no others around!
Even the australian navy had none..billy mitchells warning was unheeded!
Japanese’Betty’ bombers, which dealt the final blows to both ships, eventually took Admiral Yamamoto to his death in 1943.
The Betty was a very versatile plane, being used as a recon, bomber, torpedo bomber and transport.
this rum fellow called history chap has endeared himself to us with his hard and sincere work on his posts ,,,i say old chap any word on Nigella Lawson ...would appreciate any clues ....from dicky ticker to another ....chin chin and carry on mate 👍✌
I often wonder who Lord Halifax sided with, Allies OR Axis?
Oh YES, Chris me old mucker, THIS, the sinkings of HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse, which I've known about mainly due to a friend's story on the site Fanfiction, but as to the FULL details of said thing, which happened also on the very same day that Hitler himself declared war on America I'll remember to mention, well once again YOU'VE given me exactly that. And holy moly, those poor men, amongst their number Admiral Tom Phillips (who really was only doing his noble duty in wanting to try and defend Malaya from the earlier Japanese landings that had been done on it) and Captain John Leach, who went down with the two ships concerned upon the Japanese torpedoes hitting them, and after both ships had gained success in earlier battles, HMS Prince of Wales herself displaying what she could do for sure by downing some Italian planes whilst defending a vital convoy in the Mediterranean... Naval warfare after THIS certainly was never the same again, was it, you only need to look towards some of the Pacific battles of America vs Japan for one thing regarding that, ESPECIALLY the Battle of the Philippine Sea aka the Mariana's Turkey Shoot, when American Naval forces tasked with protecting the intended Mariana landings at Saipan, Tinian and Guam by their fellow soldiers successfully virtually destroyed almost a whole Japanese air force and then, in a VERY daring and risky evening air raid, caused big damage to the Japanese Naval fleet coming to cause trouble for said landings. THAT, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Mariana's Turkey Shoot, saw NO ships from both sides open fire on the other at all, it was all aircraft vs aircraft and then ships, all won by the Americans.
And so, as it looks like you're at last returning to some WWII topics, a future topic being the largest and certainly VERY humiliating British military surrender in history at Singapore where 100,000 soldiers surrendered to the Japanese, which I'll CERTAINLY be ready for along with the one you've promised about the fall of Hong Kong on Christmas Day of '41 itself, THANK YOU once again, our TH-camr superstar. And I've also FINALLY done, prior to this new update too at that, your one from last year on General Sir Garnet Wolseley's Red River Expedition in 1870 itself, so FINALLY I now know EXACTLY about that and why it happened in the first place thanks to the desperations of the Métis people and Louis Riel, and just WHY Wolseley wanted the canoes he'd used on it for the Nile Expedition's attempt to rescue General Charles Gordon from Khartoum, said wanton desire though being a VERY costly mistake by Wolseley of course- another STUPENDOUS video by you for sure, Chris old bean. I saw your reply words yesterday btw, and THANK YOU ever so much for 'em I will say, they really touched me, and I'd very gladly be so if I didn't have such a busy life currently going on with myself personally, haha- no offense of course, but it's a TOTAL pleasure to be doing your videos every week *big smiles*
Max, you have raised so many good points (as usual). It is interesting to note that the very tactics that gave the Japanese their initial naval success were copied and mastered by the US (in particular) and turned on them.
have a great weekend.
Chris
Max as regards the fall of Singapore itself it's often not understood that Malaya's defending 'British' force consisted of 2 Indian division's and 1 Australian division whereas the single British division didn't arrive in Singapore until after Malaya's loss being ordered to surrender without a shot being fired
A lot of whistling past the graveyard. The Eyeties weren't the IJN and naval warfare was now 3 dimensional.
PS Thailand ended up as Japan's only Asian ally.
PPS The Brewster Buffalo was hideously inferior to Japanese aircraft, as was shown at Midway.
The next Battleships will be the Aircraft Carriers. They are understood to be extremely vulnerable to ballistic missiles, but this is yet to be proved. However, it seems totally improbable that a Carrier Group will be able to defend itself against a salvo of chinese ballistic missiles. There always were defences against submarines, but a ballistic missile is almost unstoppable, let alone a dozen fired against the same target.
Not much can be done, I'm afraid.
Force Z for "Caught Sleeping"
it’s not so much told as the Pearl Harbor attack it is. Some authors from America mentioned that US authorities had already known the attack in advance. What about the British government in those days??
you failed to mention the Bismark
And what did the Japanese do with the beautiful flag ship Yamato years later?
Yeah, lesson learned.
Intel is key could only go with what you know at the time and previous experience which they had plenty only from previous experiences
And now we have to worry about scrap metal thieves, desecrating these war graves!
WW2!
I do venture into this territory every now and then. Hope you enjoy it.
Fantastic video Chris, thank you so much!
👍👍👍
Guess the Brits forgot the lessons of the sole use of airpower in sinking the Itlaian battle fleet only one year prior, at Taranto November 1940. No wonder She lost Her Empire.
That was an attack on ships in a port. Not comparable.
Yawn. They knew.
They were also fighting 3 naval powers across 5 oceans with an enemy just 20 miles across the channel.
Overstretch. Simple as that.
No Blame for Philips ,he was competent , did what he though right at the time at the place , it was a disaster but good luck thinking better than him then
That’s why I asked the question: under the circumstances what would you do?
@@TheHistoryChap , he had no choice
once the first intercept had failed , either he tail back back to Singapore failing to support Northern Malaysia or kept looking for a chance to land a blow , he was a stout fighter and didn't had a moral choice ,
he would contest !
he didn't know how good or numerous the Japanese were
matter of fact the Japanese planes were grossly over range and choose to attack even if they had to ditch afterward ,
👍
what O
Hope you enjoy it.
Outt of here in 3 seconds with a stupid YT ad.
Ich, als Deutscher würde nie unter britischem Oberkommando dienen.
Auch nicht unter amerikanischen.
Zur Zeit nicht mal unter Deutschem.
Good for you
@TheHistoryChap
Wenn man die britischen Marschälle so ansieht....
Und anerkanische Generäle....
Wir habe heutzutage nix mehr. 🤣🤣🤣
Deshalb gleich überlaufen...
Bevor mich ein Arsch verheizt.
🖕🏽🖕🏽🖕🏽