HMS Repulse was one of two s built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Originally laid down as an improved version of the , her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war because she would not be ready in time. Admiral Lord Fisher, upon becoming First Sea Lord, gained approval for her to resume construction as a battlecruiser that could be built and enter service quickly. The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ship in 15 months. They did not quite meet that ambitious goal, but the ship was delivered a few months after the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Repulse and her sister ship were the world's fastest capital ships upon completion.
Repulse participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, the only combat she saw during the war. She was reconstructed twice between the wars; a reconstruction in the 1920s increased her armour protection and made lesser improvements, while another in the 1930s was much more thorough. Repulse accompanied the battlecruiser during the Cruise of the Special Service Squadron on a round-the-world cruise in 1923 to 1924 and protected international shipping during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 to 1939.
The ship spent the first months of the Second World War hunting for German raiders and blockade runners. She participated in the Norwegian Campaign of April to June 1940 and searched for the in 1941. Repulse escorted a troop convoy around the Cape of Good Hope from August to October 1941 and was transferred to the East Indies Command. She was assigned in November to Force Z, which was supposed to deter Japanese aggression against British possessions in the Far East. Repulse and her consort, the battleship , were sunk by Japanese aircraft on 10 December 1941 when they attempted to intercept landings in British Malaya.
In December 2023, a memorial was erected at Teluk Cempedak beach, commemorating both Repulse and Prince of Wales. The memorial was unveiled by King Abdullah of Pahang.
Design and description
Admiral Lord Fisher first presented his requirements for the new ships to the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) on 18 December 1914, before the ships had even been approved. He wanted a long, flared bow, like that on the pre-dreadnought but higher, four 15-inch guns in two twin-gun turrets, an anti-torpedo boat armament of twenty guns mounted high up and protected by gun shields only, a speed of 32 knots using oil fuel and armour on the scale of the battlecruiser . Within a few days Fisher increased the number of guns to six and added two torpedo tubes. Minor revisions in the initial estimate were made until 26 December and a preliminary design was completed on 30 December.Roberts, pp. 47–48
During the following week the DNC's department examined the material delivered for the two battleships and decided what could be used in the new design. The usable material was transferred to the builders who had received enough information from the DNC's department to lay the keels of both ships on 25 January 1915, well before the altered contracts were completed on 10 March.Roberts, pp. 45, 47
Repulse had an overall length of , a beam of and a maximum draught of . She displaced at normal load and at deep load. The Brown-Curtis direct-drive steam turbines were designed to produce , which would propel the ship at . During trials in 1916, Repulses turbines provided , allowing her to reach a speed of .Roberts, p. 81 The ship normally carried of fuel oil but had a maximum capacity of . At full capacity, she could steam at a speed of for .Burt 1986, p. 297
The ship mounted six 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mk I guns in three twin hydraulically powered gun turrets, 'A', 'B' and 'Y' from front to rear. Her secondary armament consisted of 17 BL 4-inch Mark IX guns, fitted in five triple and two single mounts. Repulse mounted a pair of QF 3-inch 20 cwt"cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 30 cwt referring to the weight of the gun. anti-aircraft guns mounted on the shelter deck abreast the rear funnel.Raven and Roberts, p. 48 She mounted two submerged tubes for torpedoes, one on each side forward of 'A' barbette.Roberts, p. 83
Repulses waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour measured thick amidships. Her gun turrets were thick with roofs thick. As designed the high-tensile-steel decks ranged from in thickness. After the Battle of Jutland in 1916, while the ship was still completing, an extra inch of high-tensile steel was added on the main deck over the magazines.Burt 1986, p. 294 Repulse was fitted with a shallow anti-torpedo bulge integral to the hull which was intended to explode the torpedo before it hit the hull proper and vent the underwater explosion to the surface rather than into the ship.Roberts, p. 111
Despite these additions, the ship was still felt to be too vulnerable to plunging fire and Repulse was refitted in Rosyth between 10 November 1916 and 29 January 1917 with additional horizontal armour, weighing approximately , added to the decks over the magazines and over the steering gear. Repulse was the first capital ship fitted with a flying-off platform when an experimental one was fitted on 'B' turret in the autumn of 1917. Squadron Leader Frederick Rutland took off in a Sopwith Pup on 1 October. Another platform was built on 'Y' turret and Rutland took off from it on 8 October. One fighter and a reconnaissance aircraft were normally carried.Raven and Roberts, p. 51
Service history First World War
Repulse was laid down by John Brown, Clydebank, Scotland on 25 January 1915. The ship was launched on 8 January 1916 and completed on 18 August 1916, after the Battle of Jutland. Her construction cost £2,829,087 (£ in ). She served with the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during the remaining two years of the First World War. Repulse relieved as flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron for the duration of the war.
Second Battle of Heligoland Bight
Over the course of 1917 the Admiralty became more concerned about German efforts in the North Sea to sweep paths through the British-laid minefields intended to restrict the actions of the High Seas Fleet and German submarines. A preliminary raid on German minesweeping forces on 31 October by light forces destroyed ten small ships and the Admiralty decided on a larger operation to destroy the minesweepers and their escorting light cruisers. Based on intelligence reports the Admiralty decided on 17 November 1917 to allocate two light cruiser squadrons, the 1st Cruiser Squadron covered by the reinforced 1st BCS (less Renown) and, more distantly, the battleships of the 1st Battle Squadron to the operation.Newbolt, pp. 164–165
The German ships, four light cruisers of II Scouting Force, eight destroyers, three divisions of minesweepers, eight Sperrbrechers (cork-filled trawlers, used to detonate mines without sinking) and two trawlers to mark the swept route, were spotted at 7:30 a.m.,The times used in this article are in UTC, which is one hour behind CET, which is often used in German works. silhouetted by the rising sun. The light battlecruiser and the light cruiser opened fire with their forward guns seven minutes later. The Germans responded by laying an effective smoke screen. The British continued in pursuit, but lost track of most of the smaller ships in the smoke and concentrated fire on the light cruisers as opportunity permitted. Repulse was detached not long after and raced forward at full speed to engage the enemy ships. She opened fire at about 9:00,Newbolt, pp. 173–175 scoring a single hit on the light cruiser during the battle.Burt 1986, p. 302 When the German battleships and were spotted about 9:50 the British broke off their pursuit and Repulse covered their retreat, aided by a heavy fog that came down around 10:40.Newbolt, pp. 175–176 The ship fired a total of 54 15-inch shells during the battle and scored one hit on the light cruiser Königsberg that temporarily reduced her speed.Campbell, p. 64
On 12 December 1917, Repulse was damaged in a collision with the battlecruiser .Roberts, p. 123 The ship was present at the surrender of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow on 21 November 1918.
Inter-war period
Repulse began a major refit at Portsmouth on 17 December 1918 intended to drastically improve her armour protection. Her existing six-inch armour belt was replaced by armour plates made surplus by the conversion of the battleship (originally ordered by Chile and purchased after the war began) to the aircraft carrier . The original armour was fitted between the main and upper decks, above the new armour. Additional high-tensile plating was added to the decks over the magazines. The ship's anti-torpedo bulge was deepened and reworked along the lines of that installed on the battleship . The bulge covered her hull from the submerged torpedo room to 'Y' magazine, the inner compartments of which were filled with crushing tubes. The bulges added to her beam and to her draught. The refit added about to her displacement and raised her metacentric height to at deep load. Three rangefinders were also added as well as eight torpedo tubes in twin mounts on the upper deck. Both flying-off platforms were removed.Raven and Roberts, pp. 55–56 This refit cost £860,684.
Repulse was recommissioned on 1 January 1921 and joined the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet. In November 1923, Hood, accompanied by Repulse and a number of s of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, set out on a world cruise from west to east via the Panama Canal. They returned home ten months later in September 1924. Shortly after her return the ship's two three-inch AA guns and her two single four-inch gun mounts were removed and replaced with four QF four-inch Mark V AA guns.Raven and Roberts, p. 143 The Battlecruiser Squadron visited Lisbon in February 1925 to participate in the Vasco da Gama celebrations before continuing on to the Mediterranean for exercises.Burt 1993, p. 220 A squash court was added on the starboard side between the funnels, and a sauna and bubble bath on the quarterdeck for the Prince of Wales' tour of Africa and South America that lasted from March to October.Burt 1993, pp. 220–221 Upon her return, she was refitted from November 1925 to July 1926 and had a high-angle control position (HACP) added to her fore-top.
1930s reconstructions
After Repulse completed her 1926 refit, she remained in commission, aside from a brief refit from July to September 1927, with the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet until she was paid off in June 1932 prior to beginning her reconstruction in April 1933. Most of the existing layers of high-tensile steel that constituted the ship's horizontal armour were replaced by non-cemented armour plates in thickness and the torpedo control tower was removed from the aft superstructure.Raven and Roberts, pp. 206–207 A fixed catapult replaced the midships 4-inch triple mount and a hangar was built on each side of the rear funnel to house two of the ship's Fairey III aircraft. One additional aircraft could be carried on the deck and another on the catapult itself. Electric cranes were mounted above each hangar to handle the aircraft.Burt, pp. 210, 213