Poignant pictures of HMS Prince of Wales sailors honouring sunken WWII namesake ship and HMS Repulse

HMS Prince of Wales personnel were honouring the battleship of the same name and HMS Repulse. Both of these vessels perished in the South China Sea on December 10, 1941.

Wreaths were placed over the wrecks during the ceremony. It was the first time the fleet flagship has honoured those who went before. Committal wreaths were placed in the sea by UK Commander Carrier Strike Group, Commodore James Blackmore, Commanding Officer of the aircraft carrier, Captain Will Blackett, and Sub Lieutenant Takumi Kitamura from the accompanying Japanese destroyer Akebono.

Then brand-new battleship HMS Prince of Wales and WW1-era battle-cruiser Repulse formed Force Z in the autumn of 1941. The pair were sent to the Far East by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to deter Japanese aggression.

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When Japanese forces invaded the Malay peninsula, the capital ships were dispatched from Singapore to stop them. Just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Force Z was intercepted by the Japanese. Lacking air cover, the two ships were first sighted then subjected to a ferocious and sustained attack by bombers. The duo evaded more than 40 torpedoes, but were still hit by four apiece and sunk.

HMS Repulse succumbed first, taking 512 souls with her, then Prince of Wales, losing 330 men. This included the task force commander Admiral Tom Phillips and her captain John Leach, the father of future First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Henry Leach.

Royal Navy divers recovered the bells from both wrecks 20 years ago amid growing fears of plunder by souvenir hunters and scrap metal merchants. They have since been returned to Portsmouth for safekeeping. Here are a selection of pictures from the ceremony with Royal Navy and Japan sailors.