Scapegoat: The Death of Prince of Wales and Repulse Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mediterranean:
    ‘The battles royal which raged between Tom Phillips and Arthur Harris … were never-ending … on one occasion … Bert Harris exploded,
    “One day, Tom, you will be standing on a box on your bridge … and your ship will be smashed to pieces by bombers and torpedo aircraft; as she sinks, your last words will be, ‘that was a … great mine!”’ 5
    Harris, otherwise known as ‘Bomber’ Harris, was a friend of Phillips and his comments need to be seen in that context rather than as coming from a rival or enemy.
    Phillips’s appointment over the head of others to command naval forces in the Far East may have had something to do with his friendship with Churchill, with whom he had stayed at Chequers. It was at Churchill’s instigation that Phillips had been appointed Vice-Admiral in February 1940, probably in response to pressure from the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, who had found Phillips’s work as Vice Chief of Naval Staff invaluable.
    Phillips’s ships were initially designated Force G but changed to Force Z when they set sail on their final voyage from Singapore. It appears that the Admiralty intended Prince of Wales to halt its journey at Cape Town to allow for a review of the situation in the Far East. No document trail has been found that explains why this plan seems to have been dropped, and the ship steamed on to Singapore. The stop in South Africa allowed Phillips to meet Field Marshal Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa, who commented presciently to Churchill: ‘If the Japanese are really nippy there is here an opening for a first-class disaster.’ 6
    Phillips refused the chance to acquire a carrier, albeit a lesser one than the Indomitable:
    ‘Yet on the very day that the Prince of Wales departed from South African waters the veteran carrier Hermes had arrived at Simonstown. She carried only fifteen aircraft and her maximum designed speed was a disappointing twenty-five knots. But she had the ability to provide a modicum of seaborne air support in the shape of Swordfish torpedo-bombers and reconnaissance machines. And even a little was better than none.’ 7
    Phillips also refused further reinforcement, this time of an older ‘R’ class battleship that the Admiralty had wished to form the core of the Far Eastern fleet:
    ‘For the second time in ten days Phillips had chosen not to strengthen his force with another major warship. Revenge , a vintage battleship dating back to 1916, had been berthed in Ceylon when Force G arrived but the Admiral was content to leave her behind when the other ships sailed for Singapore.’ 8
    His ships sailed in to Singapore with much fuss being made of Prince of Wales and her name and presence released to the media in order to enhance the deterrent effect. To the intense annoyance of her crew, Repulse was not named, it being thought that silence on the number and nature of the other ships might serve to exaggerate their power to the Japanese. When news broke and it became clear that the Japanese were invading at points on the Peninsula, Phillips missed a golden opportunity to hit the Japanese invasion fleets when they were at their most vulnerable, and perhaps even change the course of the war:
    ‘If the Eastern Fleet had been able to sail immediately the sighting reports were received and had successfully intercepted the Japanese invasion force at sea there is a good chance that the enemy might have been persuaded to turn back, for the stakes were high and the Japanese had not anticipated being discovered quite so early in the game.’ 9
    Phillips was ‘insufficiently alert to the pressing realities of the strategic situation in which he was involved.’ 10 He had gone to Manila to talk to his opposite number Admiral Hart of the US Navy when the alarm was sounded and Repulse was on her way to Australia for a flag-waving visit. Phillips returned to Singapore by air and Repulse was called back, but the result was that the