85 Planes vs 2 Warships

In December 1941 Winston Churchill received a phone call telling him that the HMS Prince of Wales and the HMS Repulse had both been sunk by the Japanese by aircraft.
He said “In all the war I never received a more direct shock. The reader of these pages will realise how many efforts, hopes, and plans foundered with these two ships. As I turned over and twisted in bed the full horror of the news sank in upon me. There were no British or American capital ships in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific except the American survivors of Pearl Harbour, who were hastening back to California. Over all this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme, and we everywhere were weak and naked.”

The HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were British Royal Navy warships that were sunk on December 10, 1941. The two ships were part of a naval force known as Force Z, which was dispatched to the South China Sea to deter the Japanese from Malaya and Singapore.

The ships were attacked by Japanese planes off the coast of Kuantan, in British Malaya.
The two capital ships, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were sunk after being hit by multiple torpedoes and bombs, dealing terrible blow to British naval power in the region.

Captain Leach and Admiral Phillips went down with the HMS Prince of Wales. Sadly, the wrecks have recently been in the news for being plundered for their scrap metal by Chinese dredgers.

00:00 - Task Force Z on a secret mission to Kuantan
01:08 - First wave of Nell bombers attack
03:27 - The G4M bombers have torpedoes!
05:33 - Torpedoes strike the HMS Prince of Wales
06:58 - HMS Prince of Wales listing to port, but still fighting
09:04 - HMS Repulse and captain Tennant avoid 19 torpedoes
10:22 - Another wave of Japanese planes attack the HMS Repulse
12:03 - HMS Repulse last stand
14:00 - HMS Repulse is sinking, and Japanese still attack her
16:08 - High-level bomber attack on HMS Prince of Wales
16:30 - Captain John Jack Leach refuses to give up
19:22 - The grim toll and Chinese looters

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[Spitfiresammons]

The loss of HMS prince of wales and HMS Repulse must be a devastating blow for the Royal Navy and its heartbroken to hear of both wrecks are being vandalised and stolen by the rebels of the selvage pirate gang. Great history Yarnhub.

[Lord.Kiltridge]

I had a Great Great Uncle A. E. Jacobs on the Repulse. We think he might have been a Commander of either the port of starboard heavy AA batteries. Though he initially survived the sinking, he ultimately died of wounds sustained. Before he died, he wrote a detailed account of the action which my family still has. It can be found online under The Loss of Repulse and Prince of Wales A Participant's Account By A.E. Jacobs

[travischang]

Malaysian here and we learned about the sinking of both battleships in our history books in schools. Significant as this marked not only the end of the British Empire in the far east, but also the end of the relevance of battleships in favour of carriers and smaller navy ships. Honoured for Yarnhub to cover this, after the bomber story in Penang not too long ago.

[xenon]

My great grandfather was a stoker on Repulse. We know that he was eventually captured by the japanese, but he would never speak of anything about the war, understandably, frankly. He passed about 20 years ago now, but something like this tells the stories he'd never tell, so thank you.

[Weretyu]

Gonna say it right now, Tennant was a DAMN fine captain, weaving his ship through the torpedoes like that. Another amazing animation, Yarnhub!

[galatians-.]

I hope Yarnhub crew sees this comment.
At the scene near beginning when captain and XO are out on deck and coffee is shaking because of the brilliance in that scene and the music setting the mood I genuinely felt fear, dread and the hopelessness of that situation as the coffee ripples in captains cup from him shaking in anticipation and fear. I guess that's the art of cinema! Great job!! This was an excellent video that had me invested in the story

[ramblingrenegade]

Honestly, the loss of life between both ships amounting to 840 souls lost shows just how incredible the rescue effort was

[Indoor_Carrot]

18:48 I really love this moment the animation captures the essence of the photograph of the crew being rescued. This is a heroic action portrayed so beautifully in this project.
Very good work.

[ElevatingDreams]

A picture of the two men walking on the side of the ship till the end would be legendary, in the most honorable way possible. It be would speak more than a thousand words. May they all rest in peace, in both ends with all respect.

[graustreifbrombeerkralle]

11:58
"but with her rudder jammed, she's simply steaming in a circle."
Bismarck: First time?

[LancelotChan]

once again, the overlapping of the real life vintage photo to the scene was especially touching!

[ImBosmann]

As a chinese myself, it is really shameful for one of us to disrespect the men who passed away in this event, further staining our already not very good reputation. May the brave soldiers rest in peace.

[chadtan]

Hi Singaporean here. I remember learning about the prince of wales and the repulse and how if im not wrong were ordered to defend Singapore, super grateful:)

[石-on]

I sincerely express my condolences to the souls of the British and Japanese naval soldiers who died in the war and sincerely pray for the peaceful development of the British and Japanese countries.

🇯🇵🤝🇬🇧

[AnonymousYouTubeconsumer]

The faces on the characters has improved so much over the years. Absolutely incredible.

[limkaichoonxinminss]

Similarly to our Malaysian neighbours, the history textbooks in Singapore's secondary schools also note their sinkings. The books also say the British withheld information of their losses until the Japanese inevitably invaded the island by land a few months later in Feb 1942. Even in the face of death, both ships fought to the bitter end and for that they're some of my favourite warships. Ironically, the Yamato would suffer a similar fate three years later...

[martonpapp]

And the saddest part: the wrecks of Prince of Wales and Repulse are marked as war graves but illegal salvagers started to dismantle them. Their salvaging wasnt complete and only minor damage was caused it is still incredibly sad that these once mighty BB's are now being sold as scrap metal.

[Norridon]

This incident shows the quality of the commanders British Royal Navy.

They continued to fight valiantly and maintained the loyalty of their men. Despite the sheer hopelessness of their situation, they did their utmost. Captain Leech, Tennant and Admiral Philips are commanders although who have been defeated, would’ve made Admiral Nelson himself proud.

This battle was unfortunately when it was obvious that this was the end of the era of battleships and battlecruisers.

Prince of Wales and Repulse. Sisters of battle, bonded by the depths of the ocean.
Rule Britannia.

[DoglinsShadow]

18:52 Incredible. I love the integration with old photos!

[marcussamborski]

The HMS prince of wales and HMS repulse were just 2 of approximately more than 200 warships he Royal Navy lost during the Second World War. The Prince of Wales was the ship that had escorted the HMS hood when they intercepted the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark strait.

Great history buff on task force Z Yarnhub can’t wait to hear more from you.😎👍🏻