Battle of the Komandorski Islands
Ordered in 1917 to Mitsubishi in Nagasaki, launched 10 February 1920, and completed 29 January 1921, Camouflaged in Arctic colors, "Tama" participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and the Battle of the Komandorski Islands and spent most of the early part of World War II in northern waters. She was later used as a fast transport and made numerous sorties to Rabaul and other locations in the Solomon Islands. After refit in Japan in late 1943, she remained in Japanese home waters until reassigned to the Imperial Japanese Navy’s all-out final defense of the Philippines in October 1944. She was at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where she was damaged by USN aircraft and was torpedoed by USS "Jallao" northeast of the Philippines on 25 October 1944 while attempting to return to Okinawa.