On 6 November, SS-271 intercepted a convoy of two heavy cruisers, and several transports, protected by surface and air escorts. "Ray" fired six rear torpedoes at the , damaged earlier by . One of "Ray's" torpedoes hit "Kumano's" forward magazine, destroying its bow. Immediately prior to this, "Ray" had been forced to dive under "Kumano" in order to escape aerial and surface attack, and would subsequently ground in shoal water, shearing off her starboard sound head and blowing the sound head cable back into the torpedo room. To prevent further flooding, the submarine came to periscope depth where she saw the bowless cruiser being towed away by a transport. Her own damage and the Japanese escorts kept "Ray" from following up the attack. "Kumano" was destroyed off Luzon by Navy carrier planes 25 November.