Force Z
By late 1941 World War Two had been under way for well over two years, but was not going well for those in opposition to Hitler and his forces. In addition to several reverses, there was the particularly worrying question of Japan, a country ill-disposed to the Allied powers. Winston Churchill, ever pugnacious, was anxious to mount a naval deterrent against any possible Japanese aggression, even though, with resources over-stretched, it would be little more than a bluff.
'Against the advice of the First Sea Lord, Churchill insisted that the two ships sail for the Far East.'
For this initiative, Britain's Royal Navy could only spare one new battleship, the Prince of Wales, the old battlecruiser Repulse and the carrier Indomitable, which later hit an uncharted rock and was put out of action. Against the advice of the First Sea Lord, Churchill insisted that the two ships sail for the Far East.
The Prince of Wales, hotfoot from Scapa Flow under Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, joined the Repulse at Colombo. The pair, known as Force Z, arrived at Singapore in a fanfare of publicity on 2 December, 194l. Six days later the Japanese bombed Singapore. They also attacked Pearl Harbor and landed in Thailand and at Singora on the east coast of Malaya.
The Royal Navy had learnt to its cost in Norway and Crete that ships without air cover could not live within range of enemy airfields, in this case Indo-China (Cambodia). But the Army had fallen back before the invaders and the RAF in Malaya was weak and hard-pressed.
They could not remain impassive, and the following day Force Z sailed with four - soon reduced to three - destroyers, on a risky dash northwards to attack the heavily protected Japanese transports. Surprise was essential and, to start with, the visibility was conveniently bad, but then it cleared to reveal two cruiser-based reconnaissance aircraft. Regretfully the Admiral reversed course.
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