The Great Ships: British Battleships in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series) by Peter C. Smith

Author:Peter C. Smith [Smith, Peter C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780811749350
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2008-07-31T21:00:00+00:00

It was an impressive start from an enemy from whom not much was expected in the way of accuracy compared with the Luftwaffe. The attack was carried out from a height of 10,000 feet, and the Repulse was moving at almost thirty knots, Captain Tennant handling his 32,000-ton ship like a destroyer. This hit, although no more fatal than scores of others of the same type, was shattering to morale because of its very unexpectedness. One eyewitness described it:

It was the most impressive pattern we had ever seen. It horrified us, destroying all misconceptions in its thunder, for in that brief instant Repulse had disappeared, had disappeared completely, in a “forest” of cascading bomb-bursts which, merging together, were replaced in seconds by a giant wall of water. It was a fantastic, near-incredible spectacle, and then, after a shocked silence, a spontaneous cheer went up. For out of the chaos charged the “lost” Repulse, with black smoke pouring from a hole in her deck; but otherwise seemingly intact, and with the bright orange flashes flaring angrily from her side as she hurled yet another defiant salvo at the enemy.75

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