Howard Blakeney Scott

Prince of Wales had an extensive battle history, first seeing action in August 1940 while still being outfitted in her dry- dock, being attacked and damaged by German aircraft. Her brief but storied career ended 10 December 1941, when Prince of Wales and battle cruiser HMS Repulse became the first capital ships to be sunk solely by air power on the open sea. The wreck lies upside down in 223 feet (68 m) of water, near Kuantan, in the South China Sea. An air dropped torpedo struck Prince of Wales on the port side aft, abaft "Y" Turret, wrecking the outer propeller shaft on that side and destroying bulkheads to one degree or another along the shaft all the way to B Engine Room. This caused rapid uncontrollable flooding and put the entire electrical system in the after part of the ship out of action.

Lacking effective damage control, she soon took on a heavy list. A fourth attack, conducted by torpedo-carrying Type 1 "Bettys", developed. This one scored hits on Repulse and she sank at 12:33. Six aircraft from this wave also attacked Prince of Wales, hitting her with three torpedoes, causing further damage and flooding. Finally, a 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) bomb dropped by a Type 96 "Nell" bomber hit Prince of Wales's catapult deck, penetrated to the main deck, where it exploded, causing many casualties in the makeshift aid centre in the Cinema Flat. Several other bombs from this attack scored very 'near misses', indenting the hull, popping rivets and causing hull plates to 'split' along the seams and intensifying the flooding. At 13:15 the order to abandon ship was given, and at 13:20 Prince of Wales capsized and sank; Vice-Admiral Phillips and Captain Leach were among the 327 fatalities.

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