During the Battle of Midway, on 5 June, lookouts aboard "Kumano" spotted the surfaced USN submarine , and "Kumano" signaled a 45-degree simultaneous turn to avoid possible torpedoes. "Kumano" and "Suzuya" correctly made the turn, but the third vessel in line, "Mikuma", made a 90-degree turn by mistake. The error resulted in a collision in which "Mikuma" was rammed by "Mogami". "Kumano" returned to Kure on 23 June. On 17 July, "Kumano" and "Suzuya" were assigned to provide support for the Japanese invasion of Burma, and evaded six torpedoes fired by the Royal Dutch Navy submarine west of Perak, Malaya on 29 July. In August, "Kumano" and "Suzuya" were reassigned to support the reinforcement of Guadalcanal. During the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August, "Kumano" escaped without seeing combat and returned safely to Truk. However, she was attacked on 14 September north of the Solomon Islands by a flight of ten USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, and suffered light damage. During the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October, she provided support for Admiral Nagumo’s Carrier Strike Force, but did not see any combat. She returned to Kure on 7 November and after minor repairs, returned to Rabaul on 4 December with a cargo of troops and supplies. The cruiser continued to remain in the area on patrols and on fast transport missions through the middle of February 1943.