A Japanese Mogami-class cruiser under attack by US Navy aircraft of Carrier Air Group 7 (CVG-7) following the Battle of Leyte Gulf, October 26, 1944. A Curtiss SB2C-3 Helldiver of Bombing Squadron 7 (VB-7) is visible in the upper right of the photograph. The cruiser is most probably Kumano which had her bow blown off by a torpedo launched from the destroyer Johnston (DD-557) during the Battle off Samar on October 25. She was attacked by aircraft of CVG-7 from Hancock (CV-19) while retreating through the Sibuyan Sea and was struck by three 500-lb (227-kg) bombs. She survived and sailed to Manila Bay for repairs on her bow and all four boilers. On November 6, she was struck by two torpedoes fired from US submarines and finally sunk by aircraft from Ticonderoga (CV-14) on November 25, 1944
