HMS Repulse, anyone interested?

The best time to dive this huge wreck is during the months of April to June.

Singapore European Divers is planning to charter a technical live-aboard to dive the wreck but we need to be a minimum of eight.  Note that a TDI Instructor Trainer may join us so, for those interested, there would be the possibility to combine a course with the trip.

If you are a technical diver and interested in diving the HMS Repulse , then drop us an e-mail at singaporeeuropeandivers@hotmail.fr.

About the wreck:

The sheer size of the wreck (242m) is staggering and it takes many dives just to orient yourself on the outside. HMS Repulse lies on her port side in 55 msw in the South China Sea about 50 nautical miles north of Tioman Island, Malaysia. The vessel rests on her partially buried superstructure, so it is possible to see the gun deck and main turrets.

Visibility is usually 10-30m, sometimes more, but can creep lower near the bottom if there is a thermocline. In april 2004, the wreck can be seen from the surface standing on the back of the boat. The water is warm and clear, the bottom is sand, ambient light is plentiful, and visibility is excellent. Torpedo damage to the hull is easy to find, as are the main and secondary guns. marine life is abundant. The vessel is huge, and repeated dives are needed to see the entire hull.

















Background:

HMS Repulse is battlecruiser built at Clydebank in Scotland. Completed in August 1916, she joined the Grand Fleet and operated in the North Sea for the remainder of World War I.

In 1933-36, Repulse was again modernized. She operated with the Home Fleet in the North Sea and Atlantic during the first two years of the Second World Later she was sent to the Far East, accompanying the new battleship Prince of Wales. The two ships arrived at Singapore just before Japan began the Pacific War.

While returning to Singapore on 10 December 1941, Repulse and Prince of Wales were attacked by Japanese high-level bombers and torpedo planes. HMS Repulse was struck by one bomb in the first wave of the attack, and five torpedoes in the third wave. Eleven minutes after the first torpedo struck, Repulse rolled over and sank, followed less than an hour later by the Prince of Wales.