They were originally laid down as improved versions of the Revenge-class battleships, but their construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds they would not be ready in a timely manner.

The Director of Naval Construction (DNC), Eustace Tennyson-D'Eyncourt, quickly produced an entirely new design to meet Admiral Lord Fisher's requirements and the builders agreed to deliver the ships in 15 months.

Repulse accompanied the battlecruiser Hood during the Special Service Squadron's round-the-world cruise in 1923–1924 and protected British interests during the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.

The ship was transferred back to Force H for Operation Torch and spent much of 1943 refitting or transporting Winston Churchill and his staff to and from various conferences with various Allied leaders.

The battleships of the 1914 Naval Programme consisted of three improved Revenge-class ships, named Renown, Repulse and Resistance, and one further member of the Queen Elizabeth class, called Agincourt.

Fisher countered by arguing he could keep the building time to a minimum, as he had done with Dreadnought, by using as much material ordered for the battleships as possible, including their 15-inch (381 mm) gun turrets.

[4] During the following week the DNC's department examined the material delivered for the two battleships and decided what could be used in the new design and the contract for Repulse was transferred from Palmers to John Brown & Company because the former lacked a slipway long enough to use for the new ship.

[7] The ships proved to be good sea boats, but had to be reinforced while under construction with additional stiffening and pillars under the forecastle deck to cure some minor structural problems forward.

[9] The original plan for these ships was to use lightweight machinery producing a total of 110,000 shaft horsepower (82,000 kW), but that would have required a considerable amount of time to complete its design.

However, later testing proved that it was not deep enough to accomplish its task as it lacked the layers of empty and full compartments that were necessary to absorb the force of the explosion.

[25] Both ships spent much of the remainder of 1916 and early 1917 in the hands of dockyards having their armour upgraded and conducting routine patrols of the North Sea.

The British continued in pursuit, but lost track of most of the smaller ships in the smoke and concentrated fire on the light cruisers as opportunity permitted.

In June she was refitted in preparation for a tour of Canada, Newfoundland and the United States by Edward, the Prince of Wales, and both flying-off platforms were removed.

[9] The ship sailed in March for Australia and New Zealand with the Prince of Wales and his entourage aboard and made many stops en route.

A strake of tapered armour was fitted underneath the main belt to deflect any shell that dived beneath the water's surface; it was 9-inches thick at top and thinned to 2 inches (51 mm) at the bottom.

Two longitudinal bulkheads were added between the upper and main decks that ran from the base of the conning tower to the end of the boiler rooms.

[39] The Battlecruiser Squadron visited Lisbon in February 1925 to participate in the Vasco da Gama celebrations before continuing on the Mediterranean for exercises.

[40] A squash court was added on the starboard side between the funnels for the Prince of Wales' tour of Africa and South America[39] that lasted from March to October.

[39] Renown finished her reconstruction in September 1926 and she was assigned to the Battlecruiser Squadron until the ship was detached to convey Prince Albert of York to Australia between January and July 1927.

[45] A fixed catapult replaced the midships 4-inch triple mount and a hangar was built on each side of the rear funnel to house two of the ship's Fairey III aircraft.

The King and Queen ultimately traveled aboard the liner RMS Empress of Australia while Repulse escorted them on the first half of the journey.

[54] Repulse escorted a troop convoy around the Cape of Good Hope from August to October and was transferred to East Indies Command.

[56] To deter Japanese aggression in the Far East in late 1941, Winston Churchill was determined to send a small group of fast capital ships, along with one modern aircraft carrier, to Singapore.

About four hours later Japanese bombers arrived and attacked Repulse from high altitude; she was slightly damaged by one bomb hit in her port hangar.

Much like her sister, she spent September patrolling in the North Sea, but was transferred to Force K in the South Atlantic to help search for the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.

The ship joined Force H at the Cape of Good Hope in November to prevent Admiral Graf Spee from breaking into the South Atlantic.

She remained in the South Atlantic even after Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled on 13 December and did not return to the Home Fleet until March 1940.

[60] In November 1940 Force H covered the small aircraft carrier Argus as she flew off Hurricane fighters bound for Malta from a position south of Sardinia.

She was recalled to home waters in March, lest the remaining German heavy ships make a final sortie, and reached Rosyth on 15 April.

The ship hosted a meeting between King George VI and President Truman on 3 August when the latter was en route home aboard the heavy cruiser USS Augusta.