A ROYAL Navy Petty Officer from Keighley, who survived the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales in the Second World War, has been honoured by having his uniform displayed on a new aircraft carrier bearing the same name as the ship.

Robert Alfred 'Alf' Woodhead was aboard the Prince of Wales when his ship and HMS Repulse were attacked by Japanese torpedo bombers in the South China Sea, on 10 December, 1941.

Last Tuesday - the 78th anniversary of the attack - a new aircraft carrier was commissioned into the Royal Navy and named HMS Prince of Wales. Alf's uniform is displayed on the ship as a tribute.

Alf, who was aged just 23, survived by jumping overboard onto HMS Express, despite being told not to, as it was deemed too dangerous. His story was published in the book Battleship, by Martin Middlebrook: "My heels landed on the ropes around the side and I pitched forward onto two chaps, breaking my fall", Alf told Middlebrook in 1977.

"I looked up at the Prince of Wales, which was receding astern very fast, and the first thing I noticed was the group of chaps who had cautioned me not to jump still standing there."

In 1941, the Telegraph & Argus listed Alf as one local survivor on the ship, and said he was of Ingrow, Keighley. The other survivors listed are Peter Manning of Dewsbury and Austin Nillen of Lonsdale Street, Bradford. In a separate piece, on 10 December 1941, it was reported, "Britain sustained a heavy blow in the Pacific to-day, when the Japanese sank HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse, off Malaya, both by bomb hits, Tokio claimed."

Another account was published the day after as Winston Churchill announced the news: "Mr. Churchill, in the House of Commons to-day, said both HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk by repeated air attacks. Both high-level bomb and torpedo attacks were directed against the ships and delivered with determination."

Alf died in 1998 and was buried at sea, over the wreck of the Prince of Wales. His obituary was published in the T&A and said, "He was a founder member of the local branch of the Royal Naval Association, which first started meeting at Applegarth in 1979" and that he was survived by wife Vera, son Alan and grandchildren Stephen, James and Vicky.

His uniform was bought on eBay by journalist and historian David Barzilay, who gave it to the new HMS Prince of Wales. He said: "Giving the uniform to the ship is a fitting tribute to Alf and a great piece of history", while captain Darren Houston said, "The history of our predecessors is important and I'm very grateful to David for obtaining the uniform for us."