Editing HMS Repulse (1916) (section)

==Wreck==

HMS Repulse came to rest at {{convert|183|ft|m}}, almost upside down with her starboard side elevated and her port side buried in the seabed at {{Coord|3|37|N|104|20|E}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2023/november/16/20231116-royal-navy-remembers-pacific-tragedy-with-service-over-ww2-wrecks|title=Royal Navy remembers Pacific tragedy with service over WW2 wrecks|publisher=Royal Navy|date=16 November 2023|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref>
<ref>Denlay, p. 6</ref>
<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/repulse_1916/hms_repulse_1916_wreck_map.htm|title=HMS Repulse (1916) Wreck Map|publisher=Maritime Quest|accessdate=11 June 2024}}</ref>
The wreck site was designated as a 'Protected Place' in 2002 under the [[Protection of Military Remains Act 1986]], 60 years after her sinking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20062616.htm|title=Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 2616 The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2006|publisher=Queen's Printer of Acts of Parliament|access-date=20 November 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708214655/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20062616.htm|archive-date=8 July 2008|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Survivors described five torpedo hits on ''Repulse'', four on the port side and one on the starboard side. The four portside hits purportedly were: two amidship, one abreast of the rear turret and one near the propellers. The starboard side hit was amidships. A 2007 diving expedition could confirm only two of the hits by examination of the wreck: the portside hit near the propellers and the starboard hit amidship. Unfortunately, at the time of the expedition, the portside midships section of the wreck was buried in the ocean floor thus the claimed hits there could not be confirmed. However, the area abreast of the port rear turret was accessible and no sign whatsoever of a torpedo hit, as described by survivors, was found.<ref>Denlay, pp. 6–8</ref>

In October 2014, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reported that both ''Prince of Wales'' and ''Repulse'' were being "extensively damaged" with explosives by scrap metal dealers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11187603/Celebrated-British-warships-being-stripped-bare-for-scrap-metal.html|title=Celebrated British warships being stripped bare for scrap metal |first1=Julian |last1=Ryall |first2=Joel |last2=Gunter |name-list-style=amp |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 October 2014|access-date=26 October 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026012728/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/11187603/Celebrated-British-warships-being-stripped-bare-for-scrap-metal.html|archive-date=26 October 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> In May 2023, it was reported that a Chinese ship, ''Chuan Hong 68'', illegally scavenged the wreck for its [[low-background steel]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Grady |first=John |date=2023-05-25 |title=U.K. Royal Navy 'Distressed and Concerned' by Illegal Chinese Salvage of WWII Wrecks |language=en-US |website=[[USNI News]] |url=https://news.usni.org/2023/05/25/u-k-royal-navy-distressed-and-concerned-by-illegal-chinese-salvage-of-wwii-wrecks |access-date=2023-05-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Seidel |first=Jamie |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Chinese salvage ship caught red-handed looting battleship wrecks |work=[[news.com.au]] |url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/chinese-salvage-ship-caught-redhanded-looting-battleship-wrecks/news-story/169b13b741a4842edaaad2727e90d37d |access-date=May 26, 2023}}</ref> In July 2024, this same vessel, ''Chuan Hong 68'', suspected of not only looting the wrecks of Force Z<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thisismast.org/maritime-observatory/chuan-hong-68.html | title=Chuan Hong 68 and looting of multiple WW2 wrecks including HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse }}</ref> but other World War II wrecks in Asian waters, was back 'working' in the region and was subsequently detained by Malaysia authorities for 'paperwork violations'.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.usni.org/2024/07/04/chinese-ship-suspected-of-raiding-world-war-ii-wrecks-detained?ct=t%28USNI_NEWS_DAILY%29&mc_cid=9d31d94771&mc_eid=7eecb75fa4 |title=Chinese Ship Suspected of Raiding World War II Wrecks Detained |first=John |last=Grady |date=4 July 2024 |work=USNI News |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute}}</ref>