Force Z

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Force Z" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Force Z
The loss of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, 10 December 1941. Photograph taken from a Japanese aircraft during the initial high-level bombing attack. Repulse, near the bottom of the view, has just been hit by a bomb.
Active	1941
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Royal Navy
Size	2 × capital ships 4 × destroyers
Garrison/HQ	Singapore
Engagements	Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse aka Battle of Malaya
Commanders
Notable commanders	Admiral Sir Tom Phillips † (Flag Officer) Captain John Leach  † (HMS Prince of Wales) Captain William Tennant (HMS Repulse)

Force Z was a British naval squadron during the Second World War, consisting of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales, the battlecruiser HMS Repulse and accompanying destroyers. Assembled in 1941, the purpose of the group was to reinforce the British colonial garrisons in the Far East and deter Japanese expansion into British possessions, particularly Malaya and Singapore. Lack of aircraft to protect Force Z, underestimation of the Japanese armed forces, and the political rather than naval motive for its deployment are blamed for the destruction of the force.