Qualla: Japanese Cruiser Abukuma https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:37 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Japanese Cruiser Abukuma https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma Japanese Cruiser Abukuma: Introduction https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma/ A torpedo from a PT boat should not have been able to hit her. In the pre-dawn darkness of October 25, 1944, as Vice Admiral Kiyohide Shima's flotilla entered the Surigao Strait during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Lieutenant (jg) Mike Kovar's PT-137 fired a torpedo at a Japanese destroyer. The torpedo ran deep, passed beneath its target, and struck the light cruiser Abukuma instead, hitting near the number one boiler room and killing 37 crewmen. It was a freak shot, an accident of depth and trajectory -- and it set in motion the final chapter of a warship that had been present at Pearl Harbor, had sailed to the Aleutians, the Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific, and would sink the following day off Negros Island with 250 of her crew.

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/j/japanese-cruiser-abukuma-wp/w9xj-japanese-cruiser-abukuma-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Japanese Cruiser Abukuma: Named for a River https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma/ Abukuma was the sixth and last of the Nagara-class light cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy, authorized under the 8-4 Fleet Program in 1920 and constructed at the Uraga Dock Company. She was named for the Abukuma River in Japan's Tohoku region, following the naval trad...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/j/japanese-cruiser-abukuma-wp/w9xj-japanese-cruiser-abukuma-named-for-a-river.mp3 0:06 2 full Japanese Cruiser Abukuma: From Pearl Harbor to the Aleutian Fog https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma/ Abukuma's war began on November 26, 1941, when she sailed from Hitokappu Bay in the Kurile Islands as flagship of Destroyer Squadron 1, part of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's Carrier Striking Force heading for Pearl Harbor. After the attack, her operational range was astonishing: ...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/j/japanese-cruiser-abukuma-wp/w9xj-japanese-cruiser-abukuma-from-pearl-harbor-to-the-aleutian-fog.mp3 0:06 3 full Japanese Cruiser Abukuma: The Komandorski Islands and the Kiska Evacuation https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma/ On March 26, 1943, Abukuma fought in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands, firing 95 rounds from her 140mm guns and four torpedoes during an engagement that ended in embarrassment for the Japanese Fifth Fleet. Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya, outgunned but not outfought by a weake...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/j/japanese-cruiser-abukuma-wp/w9xj-japanese-cruiser-abukuma-the-komandorski-islands-and-the-kiska-evacuation.mp3 0:06 4 full Japanese Cruiser Abukuma: Surigao Strait and the Last Voyage https://qualla.com/japanese-cruiser-abukuma/ After the accidental torpedo hit from PT-137 in the early hours of October 25, 1944, Abukuma's crew fought to save their ship. Emergency repairs got her moving again, and by 04:45 she was making 20 knots. By 05:35 she had caught up to the rest of Shima's flotilla. But she was dow...

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]]> Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/w/9/x/j/japanese-cruiser-abukuma-wp/w9xj-japanese-cruiser-abukuma-surigao-strait-and-the-last-voyage.mp3 0:06 5 full