All five ships saw combat during World War II, with "King George V" and "Prince of Wales" being involved in the action on 24 May to 27 May 1941 that resulted in the German battleship being sunk. Following this, on 25 October 1941, "Prince of Wales" was sent to Singapore, arriving on 2 December and becoming the flagship of Force Z. On 10 December, "Prince of Wales" was attacked by Japanese bombers and sank with the loss of 327 of its men. In the aftermath of the sinking, "King George V", "Duke of York", "Howe" and "Anson" provided escort duty to convoys bound for Russia. On 1 May 1942, King George V collided with the destroyer HMS "Punjabi", resulting in "King George V" being sent to Gladstone docks for repairs on 9 May, before returning to escort duty on 1 July 1942. In October 1942 "Duke of York" was sent to Gibraltar as the new flagship of Force H and supported the Allied landings in North Africa in November. "Anson" and "Howe" would also provide cover for multiple convoys bound for Russia from late 1942 until 1 March 1943, when "Howe" provided convoy cover for the last time. In May 1943 "King George V" and "Howe" were moved to Gibraltar in preparation for Operation Husky. The two ships bombarded Trapani naval base and Favignana on 11–12 July and also provided cover for Operation Avalanche on 7 to 14 September. During this time, "Duke of York" and "Anson" participated in Operation Gearbox, which was designed to draw attention away from Operation Husky. "Duke of York" was also instrumental in sinking the German battleship on 26 December 1943. This battle was also the last time that British and German capital ships fought each other.