HMS Repulse (1916) - Second World War

Second World War

At the beginning of the Second World War Repulse was part of the Battlecruiser Squadron of the Home Fleet. She patrolled off the Norwegian coast and in the North Sea in search of German ships and to enforce the blockade for the first couple months of the war. Early in the war the aft triple 4-inch gun mount was replaced with an 8-barrel 2-pounder mount. In late October she was transferred to Halifax with the aircraft carrier HMS Furious to protect convoys and search for German raiders. Repulse and Furious sortied from Halifax on 23 November in search of the German battleship Scharnhorst after it had sunk the armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi, but the Repulse was damaged by heavy seas in a storm and was forced to return to port. Repulse escorted the convoy bringing most of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division to Britain 10–23 December 1939 and was reassigned to the Home Fleet. In February 1940 she accompanied the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal on a fruitless search for six German blockade runners that had broken out of Vigo, Spain.

Repulse was assigned to support Allied operations during the Norwegian Campaign in April–June 1940. On 7 April Repulse, along with the bulk of the Home Fleet, was ordered to sea to intercept what was thought to be another attempt to breakout into the North Atlantic. The ship was detached the following day to search for a German ship reported by the destroyer HMS Glowworm, but the destroyer had been sunk by the German cruiser Admiral Hipper before Repulse arrived and she was ordered to rendezvous with her sister Renown south of the Lofoten Islands, off the Norwegian coast. On 12 April Repulse was ordered to return to Scapa Flow to refuel and she escorted a troop convoy upon her return. In early June the ship was sent to the North Atlantic to search for German raiders and played no part in the evacuation of Norway.

Accompanied by Renown and the 1st Cruiser Squadron, Repulse attempted to intercept the German battleship Gneisenau as it sailed from Trondheim to Germany in July. Until May 1941 the ship escorted convoys and unsuccessfully searched for German ships. On 22 May Repulse was diverted from escorting Convoy WS8B to assist in the search for the German battleship Bismarck, but she had to break off the search early on 25 May as she was running low on fuel. The ship was refitted from June to August and received eight Oerlikon 20-millimetre (0.79 in) autocannon as well as a Type 284 surface gunnery radar. Repulse escorted a troop convoy around the Cape of Good Hope from August to October and was transferred to East Indies Command.