Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse - Background

Background

The two capital ships were sent to Singapore in December 1941 as a deterrent to Japanese territorial expansion which was recently demonstrated by the invasion of French Indochina. First Sea Lord Sir Dudley Pound represented that Singapore could only be adequately defended if the Royal Navy sent the majority of its capital ships there, to achieve parity with an estimated force of nine Japanese battleships. However, dispatching such a large British force was impractical as the British were at war with Germany and Italy. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appeared optimistic about the improving situation in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean; he advocated sending two capital ships along with an aircraft carrier to defend Malaya, Borneo and the Straits Settlements.

Churchill has been criticised for showing "considerable ignorance" and holding an "exaggerated belief in the power of the battleship," along with "a tendency to interfere in naval matters." This may have led him to propose a squadron of three modern ships: one battleship, one battlecruiser, and one carrier. His position was that these vessels would form a "fleet in being" to deter Japanese action, as Tirpitz was in the North Sea. However, there was no firm plan for such a task. The original British proposal called for including the new aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable for air cover, although the plan had to be revised when Indomitable ran aground in the Caribbean Sea.

The dispatch of capital ships to Singapore had been part of the Admiralty's strategic planning since the naval base had been established. The scale of this planned deployment had been reduced during the 1930s, as Germany and Italy presented new threats to British interests in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. Nevertheless, it was still assumed that a significant force of capital ships would deter Japanese expansion. Churchill's plan presumed that the United States would agree to send its Pacific Fleet, including eight battleships, to Singapore in the event of hostilities with Japan, or that the British force would add to the deterrent value of the U.S. fleet, should it stay at Pearl Harbor.

The governments of Australia and New Zealand, which had sent the bulk of their armed forces to the North African campaign, also stressed the importance of a strong force at Singapore in deterring Japanese territorial aims. Australian commitment to the war in Europe had wavered in 1939 and 1940, and would be severely tested following the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Darwin, and the Kokoda Track, so Churchill's effort, while a military failure, may have been a political necessity.