Maya was a Takao-class heavy cruiser, the last of the four. Kawasaki at Kobe launched her on 8 November 1930, and she was completed on 30 June 1932. Like her sisters she carried ten 8-inch guns.
On 26 March 1943 she was with Vice Admiral Boshiro Hosogaya south of the Komandorski Islands. His flag was in Nachi. Tama and Abukuma were there, and four destroyers were in the gun line. They had twice the heavy-cruiser strength of the American force, which had only Salt Lake City for an answer to the 8-inch guns. The fight ran more than three hours. Nachi was hit. Maya was not sunk. Hosogaya turned away, and the convoy did not reach Attu.
She was still in service in October 1944, in the force bound for Leyte. On the morning of 23 October, in Palawan Passage, the submarine Dace sank her. The same morning Darter sank Atago and torpedoed Takao. Maya did not reach the Sibuyan Sea.