The dam was a Japanese light cruiser whose keel was laid in 1918, launched in February 1920, and commissioned in the Imperial Japanese Navy in January 1921. The ship was 152.4 meters long, 14.2 meters wide, and had a full displacement of 5,800 tons. The maximum speed of the Tama cruiser was 36 knots. At the time of launching, the main armament was 7 140 mm guns in single positions, and the additional armament was, among others: two 80 mm cannons and four twin 533 mm torpedo tubes.
Tama was the second Kuma-class cruiser. Cruisers of this type were in fact the enlarged Tenryu class, but had greater range, speed, and better armament. The combat career of the cruiser Kuma began very quickly, because shortly after its launch it covered the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Siberia, where these forces were engaged against the Bolsheviks during the Russian civil war. Later, he performed patrol functions during operations in China in 1931-1932, and took an active part in supporting Japanese landings in China in 1937-1940. At the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, in December 1941, Tama was performing patrol functions in an unusual white camouflage in the area of the Kuril Islands. In May 1942, the cruiser was part of the attacking forces on the Aleutian Islands. After this action, until the beginning of 1943, the Tama performed patrol functions in the Hokkaido and Aleutian regions. In 1943, the unit underwent modernization, during which, among others, a new air surveillance radar was installed on it and anti-aircraft armament was strengthened. The unit took part in the Battle of Leyte Bay (October 1944), in which it was severely damaged. Shortly thereafter, she was sunk by the USS Jallao submarine on October 25, 1944.