TRUMPETER 1/350 HMS REPULSE BATTLECRUISER BATTLESHIP RN

HMS Repulse was a Renown-class battlecruiser, launched in 1916. In September 1916, she joined the Grand Fleet as flagship of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. Repulse first saw action on 17 November 1917 engaging 2 German battleships, SMS Kaiser and SMS Kaiserin, before they retreated. A major refit was 1933-1936, when she received more armour, more anti-aircraft guns and a catapult with two hangars. The aircraft in 1941 were Supermarine Walrus. After the outbreak of WW2 in 1939, Repulse operated in various hunting groups formed to hunt down German commerce raiders. The Allied campaign in Norway saw Repulse covering minelaying by British forces.  In January 1941, Repulse participated in the hunt for the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In May, she took part in the chase of Bismarck, detaching from the last engagement due to lack of fuel.
At the end of 1941, as the threat of war with Japan loomed ever larger, Repulse was detached to the Far East as a deterrent to Japanese aggression. This force, long envisioned in Admiralty strategic planning as a large battle fleet designed to act as a counter to Japanese intentions, was dispatched to Singapore as an under-strength squadron, sent to Singapore without the carrier  Indomitable (which had run aground on trials & needed repair). Shortly after the outbreak of war in the Pacific on 8 December 1941 (other side of the Dateline to Pearl Harbour), HMS Repulse left Singapore in company with the fast battleship HMS Prince of Wales, and 4 destroyers, to  intercept Japanese invasion fleets heading towards Malaya. The commander of the fleet , Admiral Sir Tom Philips, flying his flag in Prince of Wales, knew that British forces could not provide air cover, but proceeded anyway because he thought that Japanese forces could not operate so far from land, it was also thought that his ships were relatively immune from fatal damage by air attack, as no capital ship at sea had yet been sunk by air attack.
However, on 10 December 1941, after failing to find any Japanese invasion forces, the Force spotted Japanese aircraft. The fleet was attacked by 86 Japanese bombers. In the ensuing attacks, Repulse was ably handled by Captain Bill Tennant, who managed to comb several torpedo attacks. However, Repulse's luck was not to hold out and she was caught by a skilfully synchronised Japanese pincer attack and hit by 5 torpedoes in rapid succession. Repulse soon developed a severe list to port over a period of about 6 minutes. It was clear she was sinking fast, so Capt.Tennant ordered abandon ship. Repulse rolled over and sank at 12:23. Although much older than Prince of Wales, Repulse survived a bomb hit and managed to dodge 19 torpedoes before being sunk in 20 minutes after receiving 5 torpedo hits. The destroyers HMS Electra and HMAS Vampire moved in to rescue survivors of Repulse, while Express rescued survivors of Prince of Wales. After being rescued, some survivors manned stations on Electra, to free her sailors to rescue more survivors. In particular, Repulse gunners manned the 'X' and 'Y' 4.7" mounts, and the ship's dentist of Repulse assisted the Electra's medical teams with the wounded. In total, 1,285 survivors of Repulse were rescued, of which Electra saved 571; 327 died. Electra and the other destroyers then returned to Singapore to drop off the survivors. These sinkings by aerial attack demonstrated the vulnerability of capital ships not protected by friendly aircraft.