Operational History
On 6 April 1942 during the Indian Ocean Raid heavy cruisers Kumano and Suzuya with destroyer Shirakumo sank the British Steamships Silksworth, Autolycus, Malda and Shinkuang and the American Steamship Exmoor. Present at Midway (4-7 June 1942) as part of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Cruiser Division 7, along with her sisters Mogami, Mikuma (sunk) and Suzuya, her war-record is otherwise of little interest until 20 June 1944, when she was attacked by U.S. carrier aircraft from USS Bunker Hill, Monterey, and Cabot. During this action, the aircraft carrier Hiyō was sunk and the battleship Haruna was badly damaged.
Light anti-aircraft armament was increased to thirty 25 mm guns by January 1944, and increased again to 50 guns in July. On 25 October 1944, Kumano was part of the Japanese Central Force in the Battle off Samar. She was hit by a Mk-15 torpedo fired by the destroyer USS Johnston, which literally blew off her bow. As Kumano was retiring towards the San Bernardino Strait, she came under aerial attack and suffered minor damage.
The next day, Kumano was attacked from aircraft launched by USS Hancock while in the Sibuyan Sea, and was struck by three 500 lb (227 kg) bombs. She survived and sailed to Manila Bay for repairs on her bow and all four boilers.
She returned to service, and on 6 November 1944 Kumano was guarding convoy Ma-Ta 31. The convoy came under attack by a U.S. submarine wolf-pack consisting of USS Batfish, Guitarro, Bream, Raton and Ray. Of the aforementioned U.S. submarines, Ray inflicted the most severe damage on Kumano.
In all, the American submarines launched 23 torpedoes towards the convoy, two of which struck the Kumano. The first hit destroyed her recently replaced bow, and the second damaged her starboard engine room, flooding all four of her engine rooms. She took on an 11° list and lost steerage. At 19:30, she was towed to Dasol Bay by the cargo ship Doryo Maru, and from there she was moved to Santa Cruz on the Philippine Island of Luzon.
While undergoing repairs in Santa Cruz on 25 November, Kumano came under aerial attack by aircraft launched by USS Ticonderoga. Five torpedoes and four 500 lb bombs struck her, and at 15:15 she rolled over and sank in about 31 m (102 ft) of water.
Admiral William "Bull" Halsey reportedly once remarked that "if there was a Japanese ship he could feel sorry for at all, it would be the Kumano".
Read more about this topic: Japanese Cruiser Kumano
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