The Sinking of the Prince of Wales and Repulse : the End of the Battleship Era

The author of The First Day on the Somme recounts the sinking of two British Royal Navy ships by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. On the third day of the war with Japan, two Royal Navy capital ships were sunk off Malaya by air torpedo attack. They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse. The authors re-create for the reader not only what happened, but also what it was like for the men involved. They dispose of several myths to explain the events of those confused hours, and address the uncertainty, controversy, and strong emotions that surrounded the militarily disastrous sinkings. Bogen beskriver japanske flådeflys sænkning af det engelske slagskib Prince of Wales og slagkrydseren Repulse den 10. december 1941, kun tre dage efter Japan var gået ind i krigen. At Japan var på vej ind i krigen kom ikke som nogen overraskelse for englænderne, men de japanske styrkers formåen til land, til søs og i luften overraskede. Prince of Wales var på dette tidspunkt Englands nyeste slagskib og havde få måneder med succes deltaget i sænkningen af Bismarck. Her få dage efter krigsudbruddet patruljerede Prince of Wales og Repulse sammen med 4 destroyere i farvandet nordøst for Singapore i et område, hvor det var muligt at få flydækning, men den var ikke vurderet nødvendig. Ca. kl 11.00 blev styrken opdaget af japanske flådefly og 13.30 var sænkningen af Prince of Wales og Repulse en kendsgerning. Dette må regnes som et af de smerteligste nederlag for den engelske flåde i nyere tid. Der har været mange refleksioner, hvorfor der ikke var rekvireret luftstøtte, men en del bunder i en generel undervurdering af de japanske styrkers kapacitet. Ligeledes var den engelske styrkechef ikke opmærksom på, at japanerne havde udviklet langtrækkende torpedofly. Det var netop torpedotræffere der afgjorde de to skibes skæbne Cover; Halftitle; Titlepage; Contents; List of Maps and Text Figures; List of Plates; Introduction; 'A Sword at Our Hearts'; 'Sinister Twilight'; 'A Decisive Deterrent'; Force G; The Voyage East; Singapore; The Sweep; Kuantan; Plates; The First Round; The Lull; The Final Round; 'Abandon Ship'; The Rescue; The Aftermath; An Analysis; The Years that Followed; Appendix 1; Appendix 2; Appendix 3; Appendix 4; Appendix 5; Appendix 6; Acknowledgements; Bibliography; Index On 10 December 1941 two Royal Navy capital ships were sunk off Malaya by air torpedo attack. They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died. Taking full advantage of Second World War documents, the authors re-create not only what happened but also what it was like for the men involved.