The Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah today opened the memorial, Bernama reported.
Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah accompanied him.
The opening of the memorial marks the 82nd anniversary of the ships’ sinking.
Also present at the event were British high commissioner to Malaysia Ailsa Terry, the granddaughter of HMS Prince of Wales’s captain, Henrietta Wood (nee Leach), Pahang state representatives, armed forces senior officers and foreign dignitaries.
The memorial includes an auxiliary anchor, believed to be from one of the ships, which was gifted to Malaysia by the UK, and displayed at the army museum in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan, before this.
HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales were part of British naval squadron Force Z, which was tasked with intercepting a Japanese invasion fleet during World War II.
However, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse, which were sailing without air escort, sank 61 nautical miles off the coast of Kuantan on Dec 10, 1941 after intense air raids by Japanese bombers and torpedo aircraft.
Wood, 64, in her speech, said her grandfather, Captain John Leach, was among 840 men whose grave is in the deep waters of the South China Sea. A total of 513 people were from HMS Repulse.
“I hope the memorial unveiled this morning is not just a grateful remembrance of the 840 men but also a reminder to us to learn the lessons of history and look to a future of trust, understanding and respect between nations.
“The current terrible conflicts just cry out for humanity.
“This memorial is not only a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made in war but also a symbol of the bond between our countries. I hope this will serve as an encouragement to others to accept their differences and work peacefully together,” she said.
She also said the memorial would draw more people to visit the location.
Wood said her father, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach, who was 18 in 1941, saw his father for the last time hours before Force Z sailed.
He was informed of his father’s death by an exhausted first lieutenant of Prince of Wales, who had miraculously survived the ordeal.
Terry, in a release to the media, said the memorial will provide an opportunity for visitors to reflect on the enormity of the loss and cost of war.
“It is a fitting tribute to the personnel who perished along with the ships, and also serves as a reminder that important naval heritage like this must be protected as well as the strength of the UK-Malaysia relationship,” she said.