HMS Prince of Wales

Type:
Battleship
Class:
Builder:
Cammell Laird
Birkenhead, England
Pennant Number:
53
Ordered:
July 29, 1936
Launched:
March 5, 1939
Keel Laid:
January 2, 1937
Commissioned:
March 31, 1941
Fate:
Sunk Dec. 10, 1941 by Japanese land based aircraft.

Location: South China Sea, 72 miles east of Pekan, Malaysia.
(03.34N - 104.27E)

301 of her crew and 26 Royal Marines were killed.
1,285 survivors were rescued by HMS Express H-61.
(Roll of Honour)



Dimensions, machinery and performance (design standard for class)
Length:
745'
Engines:
4 Parsons single reduction geared steam turbines
Beam:
103'
Boilers:
8 Admiralty 3 drum type (oil fired)
Draft:
29' std. / 32' 6" full
Shafts:
4
Displacement:
36.730 std.
HP:
110,000
42,080 full
Speed:
28 knots
Crew:
1,422 / 1,511 wartime
Range:
2,540 NM @ 27 knots / 14,000 NM @ 10 knots


Armament (design standard for class)
Number Carried
Type
Arrangement
Maximum Range / Ceiling
10
14"/45 (356mm)
Mk VII
2 quad turrets
1 twin turret
38,560 yards @ 40° (21.9 miles)
1,590 lb. AP shell
Rate of fire 2 RPM
16
5.25"/50 (134mm)
8 twin turrets
23,400 yards @ 45° (13.2 miles)
AA ceiling 49,000'
80 lb. HE shell
Rate of fire 7-8 RPM
32
1.575"/39 (40mm)
2 pounder AA
4 octuple mounts
5,000 yards (2.8 miles)
AA ceiling 13,300'
1.81 lb HV shell
Rate of fire 115 RPM
16
.5"/62 (12.7mm)
AA machine gun
4 quad mounts
5,000 yards (max. effective 800 yards)
Rate of fire 150-200 RPM
3
aircraft


Commanders
From
To
Name
Mar. 31, 1941
Dec. 10, 1941
Captain John C. Leach, D.S.O., M.V.O., R.N.


Record of movement by Lt. Commander Arnold Hague RN (1930-2006)

Departure date
Port of departure
Arrival date
Port of arrival
Notes
Jan. 28, 1941
Liverpool
Jan. 30, 1941
Rosyth
Gun trials on passage.
Docking & defect repair.
Mar. 24, 1941
Rosyth
Mar. 25, 1941
Scapa Flow
Acceptance trials and work
up period.
May 22, 1941
Scapa Flow
May 27, 1941
Iceland
Bismarck operation, refuel
in Iceland.
May 28, 1941
Iceland
May 30, 1941
Rosyth
Repair battle damage.
July 19, 1941
Rosyth
July 19, 1941
Scapa Flow
Trials and work up after
repairs.

Aug. 4, 1941
Scapa Flow
Aug. 9, 1941
Placentia Bay,
Iceland
Atlantic Charter Conference
with PM Churchill onboard.
Aug. 12, 1941
Placentia Bay,
Iceland

Aug. 16, 1941
Reykjavik, Iceland
Aug. 16, 1941
Reykjavik, Iceland
Aug. 18, 1941
Scapa Flow
Sept. 15, 1941
Scapa Flow
Sept. 16, 1941
Clyde
Sept. 17, 1941
Clyde
Sept. 23, 1941
Gibraltar
WS-11X
Sept. 24, 1941
Gibraltar
Sept. 30, 1941
Gibraltar
Operation Halberd, escorted
convoy part way to Malta.

Oct. 1, 1941
Gibraltar
Oct. 6, 1941
Scapa Flow
Oct. 23, 1941
Scapa Flow
Oct. 24, 1941
Clyde
Oct. 25, 1941
Clyde
Nov. 5, 1941
Freetown,
Sierra Leone
Force G, passage to Singapore
to form Eastern Fleet.
Nov. 6, 1941
Freetown
Nov. 16, 1941
Cape Town,
South Africa
Nov. 18, 1941
Cape Town
Nov. 24, 1941
Mauritius
Nov. 24, 1941
Mauritius
Nov. 28, 1941
Colombo, Ceylon
Nov. 29, 1941
Colombo
Dec. 2, 1941
Singapore
Flagship of Eastern Fleet
Dec. 3, 1941.
Dec. 8, 1941
Singapore
Dec. 10, 1941
Sunk
Force Z
Sunk by Japanese aircraft.
© Lt. Commander Arnold Hague RN
Provided by Don Kindell


Notes:
May 24, 1941:
Battle of the Denmark Strait, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Hood, HMS Norfolk and
HMS Suffolk engaged the German battleship Bismarck and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.
Prince of Wales scored three hits on the Bismarck and received four hits from the
German ships. Fourteen crewmen on the HMS Prince of Wales were killed in the action.
(Roll of Honour)


Builder's Data
Page published Aug. 30, 2007