World War II in the Pacific Sinking of the battleship ‘HMS Prince of Wales’ (back) and of the battlecruiser ‘HMS Repulse’ (front) after being hit by Japanese torpedo aircrafts off the Malaysian coast near Kuantan. Crew members of the ‘Prince of Wales

The sinking of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales. (Ullstein Bild/Getty Images)

Ullstein Bild/Getty Images