MIKUMA (June 5, 1942)
During the Battle of Midway, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto was going to attempt not to make Midway a complete failure. He sent out an urgent message to send four of his smaller aircraft carriers down from the Aleutians and brought up a number of heavy cruisers to join his main fleet.
But the attempt at the taking of Midway was destined to failure. Yamamoto finally signalled his ships to withdraw. Two of the cruisers from the Midway force under the command of Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita, the Mikuma and the Mogami, both of the Mogami class heavy cruisers, came under attack of the USS Tambor, a submarine of the US Strike Force. Both the
Mikuma and the
Mogami turned so as to avoid attack, but turned into each other. The
Mogami, building up full power turned into the path of the
Mikuma hitting her amidships. Both cruisers were badly damaged. Rear Admiral Spruances' dive bombers found the two cruisers early the following morning, their bombs adding greatly to the damage. The
Mikuma finally sunk, Two of her survivors were picked up by the American submarine USS Trout. The crippled
Mogami managed to get back the base at Truk where she was fitted out as an aircraft carrying cruiser, but the
Mogami was finally sunk by US aircraft in the Philippines in October 1944.
The crippled Japanese cruiser Nikuma