On Wednesday 10 December 1941, the third day of the war with Japan, two Royal Navy capital ships were sunk off Malaya by air torpedo attack. They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse. Taking full advantage of British Second World War documents and the Japanese Official History, the authors re-create for the reader not only what happened on that sunny morning, but also what it was like for the men involved. They dispose of several myths to explain what happened in those confused hours, and address the uncertainty, controversy and strong emotions that surrounded the militarily disasterous sinkings and the tragic aftermath.