Qualla: Japanese Cruiser Maya

Japanese Cruiser Maya: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit 海と空社, Public domain. A monkey taught to salute officers. Sixty-one dive bombers failing to land a single direct hit. Four torpedoes ending a warship's life in under ten minutes. The story of the heavy cruiser Maya reads less like a naval record and more like a war novel, full of improbable escapes and sudden reversals. Named for a mountain outside Kobe, Maya was one of four Takao-class cruisers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early 1930s, ships designed to be the backbone of a long-range strike force. At 203.8 meters long and capable of 35.25 knots, she was among the largest and most powerful cruisers afloat. But her career would be defined not by design specifications, but by the extraordinary events that played out across the Pacific from 1937 to 1944.

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Image: 海と空社 | Public domain

Japanese Cruiser Maya: A Top-Heavy Thoroughbred

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. The Takao class represented Japan's ambition to build cruisers that could outfight anything they might encounter. Displacing 16,875 tons, they carried dual-purpose main guns effective against both ships and aircraft, with torpedo launchers relocated to the upper deck for greater ...

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Image: Public domain

Japanese Cruiser Maya: The Unsinkable Destroyer Escort

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Japanese Imperial Navy, Public domain. Maya spent the opening years of the war escorting troop convoys and supporting operations from China to the Aleutians. She became flagship of the IJN Fifth Fleet and assisted in the evacuation of Kiska after the Americans took Attu in August 1943. But it was at Rabaul on November...

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Image: Japanese Imperial Navy | Public domain

Japanese Cruiser Maya: The Monkey and the Scout Plane

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Public domain. After her refit, Maya embarked from Kure carrying two long-range scout planes, troops, and supplies. She also took aboard an unusual passenger: a monkey, donated by the Kure Zoo. During the voyage, the aircrew taught the animal to salute passing officers, a trick that amused the ...

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Image: National Museum of the U.S. Navy | Public domain

Japanese Cruiser Maya: Ten Minutes in the Palawan Passage

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. On October 22, 1944, Maya sailed into the Battle of Leyte Gulf as part of Sentai-4, alongside sisters Atago, Takao, and Chokai. The following morning, a pair of American submarines attacked the fleet in the Palawan Passage. At 05:33, Atago was struck by four torpedoes and sank in...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Japanese Cruiser Maya: Resting Upright in the Deep

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. For seventy-five years, Maya lay undiscovered in the deep waters of the South China Sea. Then, on April 19, 2019, researchers located her wreck in roughly 1,850 meters of water. What they found was remarkable: the ship sits upright on the seabed, her bow tip broken off and lying ...

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Image: Unknown author | Public domain