HMAS Canberra (D33)

Canberra at Kings Wharf, Wellington, New Zealand, ca. 1930s
History
Australia
NamesakeCity of Canberra
BuilderJohn Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number513
Laid down9 September 1925
Launched31 May 1927
Completed10 July 1928
Commissioned9 July 1928
Motto
  • Pro Rege, Lege et Grege
  • Latin: "For the King, the Law, and the People"
Honours and
awards
FateScuttled, after heavy damage off Savo Island on 9 August 1942
General characteristics
Class and type
  • County-class cruiser
  • Kent sub-class
Displacement
  • 9,850 tons (light)
  • 10,000 tons (standard)
Length
  • 590 ft (180 m) between perpendiculars
  • 630 ft 1 in (192.05 m) overall
Beam68.25 ft (20.80 m)
Draught21 ft 4 in (6.50 m) (maximum)
Propulsion8 Yarrow boilers, 4 shaft Brown-Curtis geared turbines, 80,000 shp
Speed
  • 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph) (maximum)
  • 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) (cruising)
Range
  • 2,870 nautical miles (5,320 km; 3,300 mi) at 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph)
  • 13,200 nautical miles (24,400 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement
  • Pre-war:
  • 690 standard
  • 710 as flagship
  • Wartime:
  • 751 standard
  • 819 at loss
Armament
Armour
Aircraft carried1 amphibious aircraft (initially Seagull III, later Walrus)

HMAS Canberra (I33/D33), named after the Australian capital city of Canberra, was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class of County-class cruisers. Constructed in Scotland during the mid-1920s, the ship was commissioned in 1928, and spent the first part of her career primarily operating in Australian waters, with some deployments to the China Station.

At the start of World War II, Canberra was initially used for patrols and convoy escort around Australia. In July 1940, she was reassigned as a convoy escort between Western Australia, Sri Lanka, and South Africa. During this deployment, which ended in mid-1941, Canberra was involved in the hunt for several German auxiliary cruisers. The cruiser resumed operations in Australian waters, but when Japan entered the war, she was quickly reassigned to convoy duties around New Guinea, interspersed with operations in Malaysian and Javanese waters. Canberra later joined Task Force 44, and was involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Tulagi landings.

On 9 August 1942, Canberra was struck by the opening Japanese shots of the Battle of Savo Island, and was quickly crippled, and according to the crew, she was torpedoed by friendly fire. Unable to propel herself, listing heavily and burning, the cruiser was evacuated and then sunk in Ironbottom Sound by two American destroyers. The United States Navy Baltimore-class cruiser USS Canberra was named in honour of the Australian ship. Later, in 2023, the US Navy named the new Independence-class littoral combat ship USS Canberra after Canberra, which became the first US warship commissioned in a foreign port.[1]

  1. ^ "USS Canberra: US commissions first Navy warship in foreign port". Reuters. 22 July 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2023.