Mikuma, a 11,169-ton light cruiser built at Nagasaki, Japan, was completed in August 1935, and massively rebuilt a year later to repair serious design defects. Originally constructed as a light cruiser with fifteen six-inch guns, she was converted to a heavy cruiser with ten eight-inch guns in 1939. Mikuma played an active role in the early months of World War II in the Pacific, helping to sink USS Houston (CA-30) and the Australian light cruiser Perth in the Battle of Sunda Strait on 1 March 1942. On 6 June 1942, during the Battle of Midway, Mikuma was sunk by air attacks from the U.S. aircraft carriers Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8).