Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

A Japanese air attack on 10 December 1941 that sank the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse off Malaya.

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Torpedo bomber: An aircraft designed to attack ships with aerially launched torpedoes. Japanese torpedo bombers delivered the decisive underwater strikes against both ships.
Force Z: A British naval force sent to operate against Japanese forces near Malaya in December 1941. The two ships formed the core of the force destroyed in the attack.
Battle of the Atlantic: The prolonged naval campaign to control shipping routes across the Atlantic during World War II. The ships' loss intensified Britain's need to allocate scarce naval strength across multiple theaters.
Tom Phillips: A British admiral who commanded Force Z during its December 1941 operations off Malaya. Phillips led the force and died when Prince of Wales sank.
Mitsubishi G4M: A Japanese twin-engine land-based bomber used extensively by the Imperial Japanese Navy. G4M bombers joined the Japanese formations attacking Force Z.
HMS Prince of Wales: A British King George V-class battleship commissioned in 1941. She was one of the two capital ships sunk off Malaya.
Fall of Singapore: The surrender of British forces at Singapore to Japan on 15 February 1942. The sinking left Britain's Malayan defenses without their intended capital-ship protection.
Arthur Tennant: A British admiral who commanded HMS Repulse during the sinking of Force Z. Tennant directed Repulse's evasive maneuvers during the air attack and survived.
Nakajima B5N: A Japanese carrier- and land-based aircraft used for torpedo bombing and level bombing. B5N aircraft carried torpedoes used in the attack off Malaya.
HMS Repulse: A British Renown-class battlecruiser commissioned in 1916 and modernized between the wars. She accompanied Prince of Wales and was sunk in the same air attack.