Ref.: TAMI-31342
Heavy Cruiser Mikuma
The second of four Mogami Class Cruisers to be equipped with five 15.5cm triple guns was the Mikuma. Completed in August 1935, its main guns were later replaced with 20.3cm dual guns turning this ship into a heavy cruiser. Though of the same class, the Mikuma's bridge and other structures are slightly different from those of its elder sister, the Mogami. The Mikuma was part of the 7th Heavy Cruiser Squadron of the 2nd fleet and took part in the Malay landing operation and the Battle of Sunda Strait at the beginning of the Pacific War. But, during the battle of Midway, when all ships of the 7th Squadron made simultaneous evasive maneuvers to escaspe from an enemy submarine, the tail of the Mogami moved forward and slammed into the Mikuma. Afterwards, the Mikuma sustained heavy attacks from over 100 US bombers and sank to the ocean floor on the seas Northwest of Midway.