Heavy Cruiser USS Canberra (Baltimore-class)

USS Canberra (Baltimore-class)

Country	United States
Ship Class	Baltimore-class Heavy Cruiser
Builder	Bethlehem Steel Company Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts, United States
Laid Down	3 Sep 1941
Launched	19 Apr 1943
Commissioned	14 Oct 1943
Decommissioned	7 Mar 1947
Displacement	13600 tons standard
Length	673 feet
Beam	71 feet
Draft	26 feet
Machinery	General Electric geared turbines with four screws
Power Output	120000 SHP
Speed	33 knots
Crew	1142
Armament	9x203mm guns, 12x127mm guns, 48x40mm guns, 24x20mm guns
Armor	6in belt, 8in turrets, 2.5in deck, 6.5in conning tower
Aircraft	4
Recommissioned as Boston-class cruiser	15 Jun 1956
Final Decommission	2 Feb 1970

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

USS Canberra was named after the Australian ship that sank at the Battle of Savo Island; in appreciation, the Australian government named the next Tribal-class destroyer HMAS Bataan in honor of the battle in the Philippine Islands. USS Canberra's first major action was the Battle of the Philippine Sea in Jun 1944. In Oct 1944, US Navy aircraft attacked Taiwan in preparation for the Philippine Islands invasion; on 13 Oct, the Japanese launched a counter-attack against American Fast Carrier Task Force, and Canberra was severely damaged by a torpedo.

After WW2, Canberra was decommissioned on 7 Mar 1947 and placed in the reserve fleet at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington, United States. On 4 Jan 1952, she was redesigned as a guided missile heavy cruiser; the conversion work took place at Camden, New Jersey, United States between 30 May 1952 and 1 Jun 1956. Upon completion of the conversation, she was re-classified as a Boston-class cruiser. Between 3 Mar and 24 Oct 1960, she sailed around the world to demonstrate her missile capabilities to American allies. In 1962, she participated in the actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. During the Vietnam War, she was deployed five times between 1965 and 1969, lending her guns to support ground troops. On 6 Apr 1967, Canberra's sailor Doug Hegdahl was blown overboard by one of the 127-millimeter guns and was captured by the North Vietnamese; Hegdahl survived the ordeal, and became a witness to North Vietnamese atrocities. She returned from Vietnam on 19 Jan 1969 and was decommissioned in early 1970.

Canberra was sold to National Metal on 31 Jul 1980 and scrapped in California, United States. Her bell was presented to Australian Prime Minister John Howard by US President George W. Bush on 10 Sep 2001 to commemorate 50 years of the ANZUS treaty; it is now located at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbor, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Source: Wikipedia.

USS Canberra (Baltimore-class) Operational Timeline