Wreck of HIJMS Kumano (熊野)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, shipwreck, cruiser

HIJMS Kumano was a Mogami Class Cruiser in service with the Imperial Japanese Navy, and following her November 1939 commissioning she joined with the Second Fleet, Cruiser Division 7 and departed for the West Indies.

Following the outbreak of war in Europe, Kumano and Cruiser Division 7 oversaw the annexation of French Indochina's lands by Japan and following the outbreak of war with America the Kumano and her sisters participated in the Invasions of Malaya, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Andaman Islands through mid-1942. After taking a leading part in the Indian Ocean Raids of April 1942, the Kumano returned to Japan for a refit period before rejoining the Combined Fleet at Guam and sortied for Midway in late May. Tasked with bombarding the island once the Carrier Force had done away with the American Fleet, the Kumano's mission was cancelled abruptly with the utter decimation of the four Japanese Fleet Carriers at the hands of American aircraft.

After returning to Japan, the Kumano and her sisters of Cruiser Division 7 were transferred from the Second to the Third Fleet and sailed to their new homeport of Singapore where they briefly covered the Invasion of Burma July 1942. The American Invasion of Guadalcanal in August interrupted Kumano's operations with the Third Fleet, as she and her sisters were ordered to sail for the Solomon Islands to repel the Allied advance. Arriving in theatre just in time to take part in the Battle of Eastern Solomons in late August, Kumano and Cruiser Division 7 clashed with the American Navy two months later at the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands. With the fight against the Americans now clearly centered in the Solomon Islands, Kumano was reassigned to Truk, where she and her sisters spent the next year engaged in operations between the front lines of the Solomon Islands, Truk and Rabaul. By the end of 1943 the Japanese military situation in the Solomons had deteriorated so badly that when news came of the American Invasion of the Gilbert Islands Cruiser Division 7 was withdrawn to a safer operating area between Palau and Singapore.

Spending the first half of 1944 engaged in fleet maneuvers and training off Singapore, the Kumano and Cruiser Division 7 again clashed with the US Navy, this time in late June 1944 at the disastrous Battle of the Philippine Sea. Spending the rest of the summer of 1944 regrouping with the remaining surface elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Kumano joined with the Combined Fleet once again which sailed for battle in October 1944 with American forces landing on the Philippine Islands.

Cruiser Division 7 and Kumano were assigned to the powerful "Center Force" of Japanese ships attacking the American landing forces at Leyte Gulf, and after steaming through the narrow channels of the Surigao Strait they arrived off Samar on the morning of October 25th, 1944. Greeted by a significantly smaller force of American Destroyers, Destroyer Escorts and Escort Aircraft Carriers, the resulting violent and confused Battle of Samar saw the small American force relentlessly attack the far superior Japanese force at great cost. As Flagship of Cruiser Division 7, Kumano was steaming in the lead of her group when she came under direct and close range attack from a US Destroyer which peppered her superstructure with 5-inch shells as it frantically dodged in and out of shells fired by Kumano's gunners. Despite their best efforts, the crew of Kumano were unable to stop the American ship from closing to torpedo range where it fired a full spread at the Kumano. Although the Kumano's Captain ordered a full stop, the torpedoes struck the bow and blew it completely off the ship. Kumano wallowed to a halt and was put out of the action as the Battle raged to her South.

Though damage control efforts by her Veteran crew quickly secured the ship from inrushing water, by the time Kumano got underway again the Battle of Samar was over in yet another crushing defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Kumano and the Northern Force returned to the Surigao Strait bound for Manila following the battle, the whole way fighting off American fighters and bombers which succeeded in hitting the Kumano with three 500lb bombs. Though she took considerable damage during her withdrawal, Kumano nonetheless reached Manila under her own power for major repairs on October 28th.

Following the fitting of a temporary bow and superficial repairs to make her seaworthy, the Kumano and the other damaged ships from the Battle of Leyte Gulf departed Manila on November 4th for Formosa. Just one day out of Manila, the convoy was spotted by patrolling US Submarines which quickly radioed the speed and course of the Japanese ships to US Pacific Fleet Command. The following day, four American Subs joined into a wolfpack and attacked the convoy, sinking the troop transport Kaga Maru and sending 23 torpedoes at the Kumano. Two of the 23 hit the already battered Cruiser, blowing off her temporary bow and striking her engine room which caused massive flooding and damage to three of the Kumano's four boilers. Still afloat but listing 11 degrees to port and unable to make headway, the Kumano was taken under tow by the Dayo Maru to the sheltered waters of Dasol Bay, where her crew began laborious efforts to save their ship. After shifting to Santa Cruz, a crew of shipyard workers came aboard to attempt repairs to the Kumano's severely damaged boilers, but lack of parts and the remote location made the work extremely difficult and time consuming.

Still anchored off Santa Cruz and with only one boiler operational, the Kumano came under concentrated air attack by dozens of US Navy aircraft flying from the USS Ticonderoga (CV-14). Her gunners did what they could to defend their ship, but being unable to move on one boiler and with barely enough power to operate her AA guns against her attackers, the Kumano was all but defenseless against the US planes. American aircraft were able to plant four more 500lb bombs and five torpedoes into the damaged hull of the Kumano, which proved too much for her to sustain. At 1515hrs on November 25th, 1944, HIJMS Kumano rolled over and sank at this location, taking 255 members of her crew with her to the bottom

www.combinedfleet.com/kumano_t.htm