page_title: Japanese cruiser Chikuma (1938)
section_title: Battle of Leyte Gulf
hierarchical_section_title: Japanese cruiser Chikuma (1938) / Service career / Battle of Leyte Gulf
caption_attribution_description: The Japanese cruiser Chikuma under aerial attack during Battle off Samar on 25 October 1944. The ship's stern has been severely damaged by a torpedo hit, but the ship's outboard propellers are still keeping her somewhat moving.
context_page_description: Chikuma was the second and last vessel in the Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Chikuma River, in Nagano prefecture of Japan. Entering service in 1939, Chikuma saw battle during World War II in the Pacific. She was scuttled on 25 October 1944 after the Battle off Samar.
context_section_description: On 23 October 1944, Chikuma (with Kumano, Suzuya and Tone) sortied from Brunei towards the Philippines with Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's First Mobile Striking Force. In the Battle of the Palawan Passage, Atago and Maya were sunk by submarines, and Takao damaged. In the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea the following day Musashi was sunk, the cruiser Myōkō was crippled and had to be towed to safety, while the battleships Nagato and Haruna received damage.
  On 25 October, during the Battle off Samar, Chikuma engaged U.S. escort aircraft carriers, helping to sink USS Gambier Bay, but came under fire from the American destroyer USS Heermann and heavy air attack. Chikuma inflicted severe damage on Heermann, but was soon attacked by four TBM Avenger torpedo-bombers. Richard Deitchman, flying from USS Manila Bay, succeeded in hitting her stern port quarter with a Mark 13 torpedo that severed her stern and disabled her port screw and rudder. Chikuma's speed dropped to 18 knots (33 km/h), then to 9 knots (17 km/h), but more seriously, she became unsteerable. At 1105, Chikuma was attacked by five TBMs from USS Kitkun Bay. She was hit portside amidships by two torpedoes and her engine rooms flooded. At 1400, three TBMs from a composite squadron of ships from USS Ommaney Bay and Natoma Bay led by Lt. Joseph Cady dropped more torpedoes which hit Chikuma portside. Cady was later awarded the Navy Cross for his action. It is generally thought that destroyer Nowaki took off survivors from Chikuma, and then scuttled her at 11°25′N 126°36′E in the late morning of on 25 October 1944, but a more recent study suggests Chikuma sank from the effect of the air attack, and Nowaki only arrived in time to pick up survivors from the water.
  On 26 October 1944, Nowaki was sunk by gunfire from the cruisers USS Vincennes, Biloxi and Miami and DesDiv 103's Miller, Owen and Lewis Hancock. The ship sank 65 miles (105 km) south-southeast of Legaspi, Philippines with about 1,400 men including all but one of Chikuma's surviving crewmen. The sole survivor from Chikuma was a crew member who was not picked up by Nowaki and drifted ashore on his own.
  Chikuma was removed from the navy list on 20 April 1945.
caption: Chikuma under aerial attack during Battle off Samar in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944. The ship's stern has been severely damaged by a torpedo hit, but the ship's outboard propellers are still keeping her somewhat moving.
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