Maya (摩耶) was one of four Takao-class heavy cruisers, active in World War II with the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN).

[2] Propulsion was by 12 Kampon boilers driving four sets of single-impulse geared turbine engines, with four shafts turning three-bladed propellers.

[2] Maya's main battery was ten 20 cm/50 3rd Year Type naval guns, the heaviest armament of any heavy cruiser in the world at the time, mounted in five twin turrets.

Maya was laid down at the Kawasaki Shipyards in Kobe on 4 December 1928, launched and named on 8 November 1930, and was commissioned into the Imperial Japanese Navy on 30 June 1932.

With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, she led a fleet with the Imperial Japanese Army's IJA 6th Division from Nagoya to China in August 1937.

Maya remained at Mako in reserve until 8 December, when she sailed as part of Vice Admiral Ibō Takahashi's IJN 3rd Fleet, together with the cruisers Ashigara and Kuma to support Japanese landing at Vigan and at Lingayen Gulf.

From the end of February, she based at Staring-baai in the Celebes, and was involved in operations to hunt down and destroy shipping attempting to escape from the Dutch East Indies.

While dry-docked at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal an additional two Type 96 twin-mount AA guns were installed abreast the forward funnel.

[2] In April 1942, Maya was part of the fleet assigned to the unsuccessful pursuit of Admiral William F. Halsey's Task Force 16.2 after the Doolittle Raid.

[4] Maya was also at the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands participating in night combat operations resulting in the sinking of the American aircraft carrier USS Hornet.

On the return from the mission, Maya's task force was attacked by the submarine USS Flying Fish, which missed the cruiser with six torpedoes.

Later, a United States Navy Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber from VB-10 of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise dropped a 500-pound (227 kg) bomb astern of Maya.

The near miss caused no damage, but the wing of the Dauntless clipped Maya's mainmast, and the plane crashed into the port side of the cruiser, igniting 4.7-inch shells and killing 37 crewmen.

During the exchange of fire, Maya was lightly damaged by a few straddles and near misses, killing one man, but was not directly hit, and in turn inflicted far more damage than she received and, despite the long range of 21,000 yards, immediately began to score hits on Salt Lake City, the first of which was an 8-inch (203 mm) projectile which set her starboard spotting plane on fire, killing 2 men.

After being hit by seven 8-inch (203 mm) shells from Maya, Salt Lake City finally went dead in the water with a rudder jam, prompting escorting destroyers to cover her with a smokescreen.

After repairs again at Yokosuka, Maya returned to the Kuriles in late April, and became flagship of the IJN Fifth Fleet, assisting in the evacuation of Kiska after the loss of Attu to the Americans in August 1943.

Maya went into a ring formation with the battleships Kongō, Haruna, destroyer Asashimo and other escorts to protect the aircraft carrier Chiyoda.

This formation was attacked by over 50 TBF Avenger torpedo bombers from the aircraft carriers USS Bunker Hill, Monterey, and Cabot.

On 22 October, in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Maya was assigned to Sentai-4 with sister ships Atago, Takao and Chōkai together with the battleships Yamato, Musashi and Nagato.

Although her sister ship Atago was also sunk nearby, the bridge structure and main gun layout confirm that the wreck is indeed Maya.