The Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, has concluded its deployment in the Pacific Ocean and has begun its long return trip home, marking the final leg of “Operation Highmast.” On Friday, the warship’s crew and other officials also took a moment to pay respect to another HMS Prince of Wales—the King George V-class battleship that was sunk along with the battlecruiser HMS Repulse on December 10, 1941, off the coast of the Malay Peninsula by land-based Japanese aircraft.

That event marked the first time that a battleship at sea was sunk solely by aircraft. At the time, the sinking was described in the British press as a calamity, and presaged the fall of Singapore to the Japanese—the worst military defeat in British history—two months later.

Six Japanese sailors participated in Friday’s ceremony, underscoring the close ties that now exist between London and Tokyo.

“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,” the Royal Navy........

© The National Interest