THE FIGHTING CANBERRAS

By Robin Clark

The Australian National Capital, Canberra, is a comparatively young city, having been founded in the early part of the twentieth century.  In spite of its youth, the city has had an array of ships named after it, these being both merchant and naval vessels.

 Of note are three naval ships that have carried the name Canberra.  These fighting ships, an Australian heavy cruiser, a United States heavy cruiser and an Australian guided missile frigate have ensured the almost continuous use of the City’s name for over seventy years.

HMAS CANBERRA  (1)

                                                                 (        HMAS CANBERRA at speed )

In the early 1920s the Australian Government undertook a five year defence development and procurement program.  The largest beneficiary of this program was to be the Royal Australian Navy.  Included in the naval part of the development was an order for two 8 inch heavy cruisers.  These cruisers would replace the aging First World War veterans, the HMAS MELBOURNE and SYDNEY which were subsequently withdrawn and scrapped.

 Two cruisers of the Kent (County) class, to be named HMAS CANBERRA and HMAS AUSTRALIA, were ordered in 1924.  Five other ships of the class were built for the Royal Navy, these were BERWICK, CORNWALL, CUMBERLAND, KENT and SUFFOLK.  The design of this class of cruiser was subject to the limitations of the Washington Treaty.  As a result some protection and firepower was sacrificed to keep within the treaty specifications and to achieve desired performance requirements

 Both ships were built by John Brown Shipbuilders on the Clyde.  HMAS CANBERRA, the second of the ships, was launched on 31^st May 1927 by HRH Princess Mary.

Following her commissioning the CANBERRA spent some five months in British waters.  She sailed from Portsmouth bound for Australia on 4 December 1928, arriving at Fremantle on 25 January 1929.  The voyage to Australia included visits to Gibraltar, Freetown, Lagos, Cape Town, Simonstown and Durban.

 The cruiser’s design made provision for the operation of aircraft.  In the early 1930s Seagull III seaplanes were embarked.  However, a catapult was not fitted to the ship until April 1936, at which stage the aircraft was updated to Seagull V.  During the Second World War the aircraft was again updated, to a Walrus.

 In April 1931 she became the Australian Squadron flagship.  This was a role that CANBERRA held until she was sunk 11 years later. Until the war she remained in commission in Australia, mainly undertaking routine cruises in home waters.  A number of visits were made to neighbouring pacific states, including New Caledonia, Fiji and New Zealand as well as a visit to the China Station..  In 1934 the CANBERRA acted as escort to HRH the Duke of Gloucester during his visit to Australia.  The Duke travelled on HMS SUSSEX.

The ship was scheduled to undergo major refit in late 1930s, but this was cancelled owing to fears of the imminent outbreak of war. When war was declared, the Royal Australian Navy was a relatively small force.  The fleet consisted of two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, five destroyers, three sloops and a variety of ancillary and support craft.

 On the day that war was declared CANBERRA immediately began patrols off the NSW coast.  During the first two years of the war she operated around Australia and in the Indian Ocean on patrol and troop convoy escort duties.  She escorted convoys first to the UK and the Middle East and later to New Guinea and Singapore.

In May 1940 CANBERRA and AUSTRALIA were part of the escort for convoy US3 from Australia.  The convoy was approximately half way between Fremantle and Colombo when the Admiralty diverted it via the Cape of Good Hope owing to fears of Italy entering the war.  The convoy was still at sea when Italy joined the axis, and it reached the Clyde on the eve of the capitulation of France.

 The Australian Government offered CANBERRA and AUSTRALIA for duty with the Royal Navy.  This offer was accepted.  HMAS CANBERRA was based at South Africa, and HMAS AUSTRALIA served with distinction in the Mediterranean.

 Between January and May 1941 the German commerce raiders PINGUIN and ATLANTIS and the pocket battleship ADMIRAL SCHEER were operating in the north-west Indian Ocean.  Allied ships searching for these raiders included HMAS CANBERRA.  On 4 March 1941, south of the Seychelles, HMAS CANBERRA intercepted the German supply vessel COBURG and the tanker KITTY BROVIG.  The KITTY BROVIG had earlier refuelled the ADMIRAL SCHEER.  At the approach of CANBERRA the two ships moved away on divergent courses.  The cruiser opened fire on COBURG and the crew took scuttling action.  CANBERRA then launched its aircraft, which pursued KITTY BROVIG.  Bombs were dropped near the tanker and its crew scuttled it.

On 7^th December 1941 the Japanese attacked the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor and soon after began their expansion into South-East Asia.  The Australian Government reaction was almost immediate.  The major units of the Royal Australian Navy were recalled and concentrated in home waters.

 HMAS CANBERRA and the destroyer HMAS VAMPIRE escorted the troopship AQUITANIA to a rendezvous near Singapore in January 1942.  The troops were transferred to 6 smaller ships to be ferried to the island in an attempt to reinforce the island nation’s defences prior to the fall of the garrison.

 The cruiser returned to Sydney, stopping to refuel at Indonesia.  On her return to Sydney, she was assigned to the ‘Anzac Force’, a task force under United States Navy strategic direction and organised with units of the United States Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy. 

From February to May 1942 HMAS CANBERRA underwent a refit at Sydney.  The refit included the installation of Type 241 surface-warning centimetric radar, the first to be installed in any Australian warship, and an A290 air warning radar.  She was still undergoing the refit while the rest of the task force was in action at the Battle of The Coral Sea.

 On completion of the refit, HMAS CANBERRA made a brief shakedown voyage off the Australian coast and returned to Sydney.  She was in Sydney Harbour when Japanese midget submarines penetrated the harbour defences and attacked shipping on the night of 31 May 1942.  One of the ships anchored in the Harbour that night was the United States cruiser USS CHICAGO, a ship that CANBERRA would feature with in the near future.

 She sailed from Sydney the day following the submarine attack and headed north.  There was little opportunity for the ship’s company to fully develop the skills necessary to benefit from the new radar units before the cruiser was in action.

HMAS CANBERRA was part of the naval force screening the United States 1^st Marine Division invasion force which had started landing on the island of Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942.  The aim of the exercise was to capture the almost completed Japanese airfield at Lunga Point on the island of Guadalcanal thereby protecting the allied supply lanes and to regain the Solomon Islands.

The Japanese were quick to react.  Aircraft flown from Rabaul attacked the allied shipping.  However, concentrated anti-aircraft fire managed to beat off the air attacks.

The Japanese Admiral Mikawa led a task force from Rabaul.  A force consisting of  five heavy cruisers, the CHOKAI, AOBA, KAKO, KINUGASA and FURATAKA., two light cruisers TENRYU and TATSUTA and a destroyer YUNANGI.  The purpose of the task force was to attack the landing force and escorts.  Australian coast watchers spotted the Japanese force, however, when seen the force was sailing in a south-east direction and the United States commanders concluded that the Japanese were not heading for Guadalcanal.

The Japanese managed to pass undetected through the destroyer screen at the entrance to what has become known as ‘Ironbottom Sound’ located between the islands of Guadalcanal and Savo.  Flares dropped by Japanese float planes silhouetted the USS CHICAGO and HMAS CANBERRA.  CANBERRA being the lead ship received most of the Japanese barrage and was almost immediately put out of action.  Within two minutes a torpedo and 24 shells hit the Australian cruiser.  She suffered severe damage to the boiler rooms, the bridge and the 4 inch gun decks.  Efforts were made to extinguish fires, but there was no water pressure.  Eighty-four men from the cruiser’s complement lost their lives in the brief encounter.

 CANBERRA was still afloat the next morning.  However, as she was unable to get underway, the decision was made to sink the ship.  United States destroyers fired over 260 5 inch shells and more than 5 torpedoes into the burning hulk before she sank.

 In the attack, later to be known as the Battle of Savo Island, the Japanese force also sunk three United States cruisers, the QUINCY VINCENNES and ASTORIA.  In little over 32 minutes of gunfire the Japanese force had destroyed 4 allied ships.

 On 8 September 1942 the Admiralty transferred the London type ‘County’ class cruiser, HMS SHROPSHIRE to the Royal Australian Navy as a replacement for Canberra.  A Suggestion made to rename SHROPSHIRE as CANBERRA, was not adopted because the United States had already decided to rename a heavy cruiser CANBERRA.  Whilst in Australian service, SHROPSHIRE retained her name.  As HMAS SHROPSHIRE, the cruiser was part of the Australian naval contingent present at Tokyo Bay for the surrender ceremony on 2 September 1945.

USS CANBERRA

Following the Battle of Savo Island the United States Government decided to name a ship in honour of the Australian cruiser, HMAS CANBERRA.  The decision was made to rename a Baltimore Class heavy cruiser laid down as PITTSBURG.  On 12 October 1942 the ship was officially renamed CANBERRA, becoming the only United States Navy warship to be named for a foreign capital city.  Lady Alice C. Dixon, the wife of the then Australian ambassador to the United States, commissioned the cruiser a year later in Boston.

USS CANBERRA sailed for the Pacific Ocean, where she was soon in action.  In February 1944, she took part in the support operations for the occupation of Eniwetok in the South Pacific. Later, in March and April, she joined the aircraft carrier YORKTOWN task group in the raids on Palaus, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai.  The next activity was to provide gunfire support during landing on New Guinea after which she was in action with the ENTERPRISE task force against Truk and Wake Islands.

In October 1944, she sailed with the task force as part of the support for the air strikes on Okinawa and Formosa.  The air strikes were in anticipation of the forthcoming landings on Leyte.  On Friday 13^th, while sailing in enemy controlled waters 90 nautical miles off Formosa the cruiser came under attack from enemy aircraft.  In the ensuing activity she was struck by a torpedo causing severe damage and killing 23 members of the crew.  USS CANBERRA was taken in tow by the cruiser USS WICHITA and taken to Manus for temporary repairs to enable her to sail to the Boston Navy Yard for permanent repairs.  The repair work took from February to October 1945.

In her Pacific War career, the USS CANBERRA had engaged in some of the fiercest and most crucial battles of the Pacific War.  In recognition of her war service the ship was awarded seven battle stars.

With the end of the Second World War there was a reduction in the operational fleet.  The USS CANBERRA was decommissioned on 7 March 1947 and placed in reserve at Bremerton, Washington.

A decision was made to convert the cruiser and her sister ship, USS BOSTON, into guided missile heavy cruisers.  Reclassified as CAG2, CANBERRA was towed in  January 1952 from Bremerton to New York Shipbuilding Corp, Camden New Jersey for partial conversion.  The after 8 inch and 5 inch gun turrets were replaced by two twin Terrier anti-aircraft missile launchers.  The forward 5 inch and 8 inch guns were retained.  The twin funnels were merged into one, and the aft superstructure rebuilt.  CANBERRA and BOSTON became the first USN guided missile surface ships.  The plan was for full conversion of the ships at a later date if the weapon systems proved to be successful.  As the conversion lasted until June 1956, CANBERRA was out of action and unavailable to take part in the Korean War.

On completion of the refit, CANBERRA was recommissioned on 15 June 1956.  Initially she was engaged in local operations from her home base at Boston.  In March 1957 she carried President Dwight D.Eisenhower to Bermuda for a conference with the British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan.  On the 12^th June she was the reviewing ship for the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads with Secretary of Defence, Charles E. Wilson, embarked for the occasion.

IN 1958, CANBERRA was designated as the ceremonial flagship for the selection of unknown serviceman representing the Second World War and the Korean War.  CANBERRA rendezvoused with the cruisers BOSTON (with the serviceman from the Pacific theatre) and BLANDY (with the serviceman from the European theatre) off Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Final selection of the unknown serviceman was made on the deck of CANBERRA, the coffin then being taken ashore for ceremonial burial at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery.  CANBERRA later buried the unselected unknown serviceman at sea with full military honours.

On the 3^rd of March 1960 CANBERRA departed from her home base to start a goodwill cruise around the world.  The voyage included the South Pacific where she visited the site of the Battle of Savo Island where namesake had been sunk.  Visits were also made to the battle sites where she had served with distinction.  The voyage continued across the Pacific, through the Indian Ocean, passing through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea before crossing the Atlantic to return home on 24^th October

Once again USS CANBERRA was to return to the Pacific region to see war service.  Between 1965 and 1968 the ship served five tours of duty in the Vietnam War.  On March 2^nd, 1967, during the bombardment of a Vietnamese blockhouse she came under return fire from ashore.  Two shells hit the cruiser amidships.  There was minor structural damage and several members of the crew were injured.  CANBERRA took time off from her war duties and visited Australia in 1967 to take part in the celebrations commemorating the Battle of the Coral Sea.

By the mid 1960s the Terrier missile system had rapidly become outdated and the ships were regarded as obsolete as a means of defending against modern high performance aircraft.  The earlier proposals for full conversion and reconstruction were not carried out.  This was mainly due to budgetary limitations and the commissioning of specialist guided missile destroyer classes with more effective missile systems.  In May 1968 USS CANBERRA was reclassified as CA 70.  The 8 inch guns were considered to be the main armament, and the ship was consigned to shore bombardment duties.  However, the Terrier missile systems were retained until the cruiser was decommissioned.

On 2^ND February 1970, the USS CANBERRA was decommissioned.  Efforts by her former crew members to preserve the ship were unsuccessful.  The ship was stricken on 31 July 1978, and two years later sold for scrap to a Los Angeles salvage company.

One of the original propellers was saved and it is on display at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum.

HMAS CANBERRA  (2)

In 1966 the Australian Government began the planning process for a new class of destroyer.  A multipurpose ship was required to replace the aging Daring class destroyers then in RAN commission.  Eventually it was decided to build an Australian designed destroyer.  However, a change in Government resulted in a review of the project leading to its cancellation.  The Navy then undertook further studies on available designs.  In April 1974 it was announced that the Royal Australian Navy would acquire two guided missile frigates of the United States Oliver Hazard Perry class.  These ships, to be named ADELAIDE and CANBERRA would replace the destroyers HMAS VAMPIRE and HMAS VENDETTA.  Between 1979 and 1980 the order was expanded to a further two ships built in the United States, and two to be built in Australia.

 The FFG 07 or Oliver Hazard Perry class is the largest class of major surface warships built in the west since the Second World War.  The design was originally developed for the United States Navy as a warship capable of being mass-produced.  A total of 51 ships were built for the USN.  As well as the two units constructed in Australia, a number were built in Spain.

 The frigate is essentially an escort with roles including area air defence, anti submarine warfare, surveillance patrol, and escort duties.  It is capable of countering simultaneous threats from the air, surface and sub-surface.  As well as working in convoy escort duties, the ship has the capability for prolonged independent patrol and surveillance operations.

 A high degree of automation, especially in weapons and machinery control, has resulted in a significant reduction in complement compared with previous ship designs with similar a capability,

 The frigates are large by previous RAN frigate standards.  These are the first class of RAN warships to be powered by gas turbine propulsion.  Also they are the first class of Australian warships to carry helicopters.  Hangar accommodation has been provided for two S-70-2 Seahawk helicopters

 In 1984 and 1985, CANBERRA and ADELAIDE were fitted with the Phalanx close in weapon system.  The remainder of the class was fitted with the equipment when they were built.

 Since being commissioned, CANBERRA has mainly engaged in coastal patrols and participating in exercises with the United States and other navies.  From 24 April to 9 May 1988, HMAS CANBERRA escorted the royal yacht BRITANNIA during the Queen’s Australian bicentennial visit.

 Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent brief war the United Nations Security Council imposed trade sanctions against Iraq.  The Australian Government fulfilled its obligations to the multinational task force by providing naval support in both the Gulf War and for the later naval blockade of Iraq.  HMAS CANBERRA was deployed to the Red Sea on Operation DAMASK IV from November 1992 to March 1993.  The commanding officer at the time was Commander Raydon Gates RAN, who later commanded HMAS ADELAIDE during the rescues of solo yachtsmen Tony Bullimore and Thierry Dubois.

 In February 1996 CANBERRA was transferred to the Western Australia naval base at HMAS Stirling.  Development of the base was part of the Australian two Ocean policy.  Ships based here would be able to cover the Australian north and northwestern approaches.  The base is home for three guided missile frigates and four Anzac class frigates and the principal base for the Collins class submarines.

 In April 1998, CANBERRA and her sister ship NEWCASTLE undertook a three  month deployment in South-east Asia.  Included in the tour of duty was the participation by the ships' companies at the opening by the Australian Prime Minister of the Hell Fire Gap memorial on the Burma Thailand railway.  The ships also took part in exercises with the Singapore and Indonesian navies.

 In June 1999 the Australian Government announced a forthcoming upgrade of the six frigates to improve their defence capabilities.  The refits are to be undertaken in Australia at the Australian Defence Industries Ltd facility at Garden Island in Sydney.  The upgrades will modernise the ships’ combat and anti-missile systems as well as improve the operational reliability and the living conditions on board.  Upgrades are to begin with the first ship, HMAS ADELAIDE, in mid 2002 with the other members of the class to follow.

The Three Canberras