 Prince of Wales had an extensive battle history , first seeing action in August 1940 while still being outfitted in her drydock , being attacked and damaged by German aircraft . Her brief but storied career ended 10 December 1941 , when Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse became the first capital ships to be sunk solely by air power on the open sea , a harbinger of the diminishing role this class of ships was subsequently to play in naval warfare . The wreck lies upside down in 223 feet ( 68 m ) of water , near Kuantan , in the South China Sea . 
