HMAS Canberra (I33/D33) was named after the Australian capital city of Canberra. She was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) heavy cruiser of the Kent subclass of County class cruisers. HMAS Canberra constructed in Scotland during the mid-1920s. HMAS Canberra 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, HMAS 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, HMAS Canberra was involved in the hunt for several German auxiliary cruisers. The cruiser resumed operations in Australian waters, but when Japan entered the war, HMAS Canberra was quickly reassigned to convoy duties around New Guinea, interspersed with operations in Malaysian and Javanese waters. HMAS Canberra later joined Task Force 44, and was involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Tulagi landings.
On 9 August 1942, HMAS Canberra was struck by the opening Japanese shots of the Battle of Savo Island, and was quickly damaged. Unable to propel herself, the cruiser was evacuated and sunk in Iron bottom Sound by two American destroyers. The United States Navy USS Baltimore class cruiser USS Canberra was named in honour of the Australian ship, and is the only US warship named for either a foreign warship or a foreign capital city.
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