Tama was a Kuma-class light cruiser, an older ship by the time of the Pacific war. Mitsubishi at Nagasaki launched her on 10 February 1920, and she was completed on 29 January 1921.
On 26 March 1943 she was in Hosogaya's line south of the Komandorski Islands, with Nachi, Maya, and Abukuma. The American force was Richmond, Salt Lake City, and four destroyers. Tama was not sunk. The convoy turned back.
On 25 October 1944 she was in Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Northern Force, off Cape Engaño. The force was the decoy that was meant to pull Halsey's fleet north. Carrier aircraft hit her with a torpedo. That hit is not credited to one ship. That night the submarine Jallao sank her.