A 5.5x3.5" vintage half tone photo postcard from the estate of a vintage postcard collector. This was part of a huge collection of antique postcards.

* We always automatically combine orders for shipping, so add as many postcards as you’d like to your order! Professionally packaged in a rigid mailer for safe delivery.

Photo Overview

Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Repulse steams at speed near the British coast, her 15 inch main guns trained forward and decks lined with sailors during the late 1930s. The powerful battlecruiser is shown in starboard bow view, photographed by Stephen Cribb of Southsea and published by Photochrom Co. Ltd. The sepia wartime card emphasizes Repulse’s modernized bridge and heavy armament, highlighted in the lower caption with her impressive 37,000 ton displacement.

HMS Repulse, launched in 1916, served in both World War 1 and World War 2 and was part of the famous Force Z task group with HMS Prince of Wales that attempted to deter Japanese landings in Malaya. On 10 December 1941, Repulse was sunk off Kuantan by Japanese torpedo bombers, becoming one of the first capital ships lost at sea solely to air power and marking a turning point in naval warfare. Authentic pre loss images like this have strong appeal to naval historians and warship collectors, so secure this scarce piece of Royal Navy history today before it sails away to another collection.

Text Present

Front lower border:
"H.M.S. 'REPULSE' DISPLACEMENT 37,000 TONS"

Back, top center:
"POST CARD"

Back, upper left:
"FOR CORRESPONDENCE"

Back, upper right:
"FOR ADDRESS"

Back, left vertical edge:
"Copyright Publication by Photochrom Co. Ltd., Royal Tunbridge Wells"
"An All British Production"
"Photograph by Stephen Cribb, Southsea"

Back, left of center:
"'This is a time for everyone to stand together and hold firm!' - The Prime Minister."

Back, stamp box (pencil):
"25"

Print analysis:
This is a commercially printed real photo style postcard issued by Photochrom Co. Ltd., using a fine halftone/lithographic process rather than a true photographic emulsion. The patriotic Prime Minister quotation and style of typography indicate a World War 2 era production, likely c1939 1941 while HMS Repulse was still in service. As a mass market publisher card produced from a studio negative some years after the original photograph was taken, it corresponds to a Type 3 printed postcard rather than a Type 1 photographic print.

Condition: All postcards we sell are in fair to excellent vintage condition. Please see photos for any tears, folds, smudges, or other age damage that may be present.