Day of the Kamikaze
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The Americans
The Japanese
Narrated By
Historical Advisor
Michael Marmé, PH.D.
Fordham University,
New YORK, NY
REcommended links
World War II
Multimedia Database
Imperial Japanese Navy Kumano Cruiser
The Americans’ Plan of the Day of November 25, 1944, called for strikes against airfields on Luzon, and on the heavy cruiser Kumano and other shipping, including a convoy escorted by IJN Yasoshima. IJN Kumano was damaged the month before in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was still making repairs in the Philippines, abandoned by the other Imperial Navy ships which had retreated back to Japan.
Play QuickTime Video of Sinking
of IJN Kumano IN day of the Kamikaze
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IJN Kumano Links
IJN Kumano Specifications
Launched:
October 15, 1936
Completed:
October 1937
Fate:
Sunk, November 25,1 944
Displacement:
13,440 tons (full load)
Length:
201.6 meters (661 feet 5 inches)
Beam:
22 meters (66 feet)
5.5 meters (19 feet)
Machinery:
Four-shaft impulse single geared turbines
Power:
152,000 shp (113 MW)
Speed:
35 knots (69 km/h)
Complement:
850 Officers and Men
Protection:
100 mm (3.9") belt, 35 mm (1.4") deck, 25 mm (1") turrets, 127 mm (5") magazines
The End of a Long Battle for Survival
IJN Kumano had participated in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, where her bow was blown off during attacks by USS Hancock (CV-19) aircraft on October 25, 1944. She was able to hide for a month while her crew made repairs.
Task Force 38 aircraft took off before 0800 hours on November 25, 1944, for the several hour flight to their targets. SB2C Helldivers were armed with 500- and 1000-pound bombs; the TBM Avengers were armed with torpedoes and bombs. F6F Hellcats flew top cover, but their was little fighter opposition.
Planes led by USS Ticonderoga's (CV-14) torpedo squadron found Kumano and sank her. About half of her emergency crew of 1,036 survived, but Captain Soichiro Hitomi went down with her, in the Japanese tradition of committing suicide when you lost your command. Kumano took 440 other officers and men with her to the bottom. 41 officers and 550 enlisted men survived.
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