USS Canberra (CAG-2)

USS ''Canberra'' (CA-70/CAG-2) was a and later a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy (USN). Originally to be named USS ''Pittsburgh'', the ship was renamed before launch to honor the Australian cruiser sunk during the Battle of Savo Island. ''Canberra'' was the first USN warship named after a foreign capital city, and one of the few named after a foreign warship not captured in battle with a USN ship.

The ship entered service in 1943 and served in the Pacific theater of World War II until she was torpedoed during the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa and forced to return to the United States for repairs. Placed in reserve after the war, ''Canberra'' was selected for conversion into the second guided-missile carrying warship in the USN fleet. Following the conversion, she was host to the ceremony for selecting the Unknown Soldier representing World War II in 1958, undertook an eight-month round-the-world cruise in 1960, participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis naval blockade in 1962, and was deployed to the Vietnam War on five occasions between 1965 and 1969.

Construction

The heavy cruiser was laid down as USS ''Pittsburgh'' by the Bethlehem Steel Company Fore River Shipyard at Quincy in Massachusetts on 3 September 1941. During construction, in recognition of the valor displayed by the Australian cruiser during the Battle of Savo Island, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wished to commemorate the Australian ship's loss by naming a US ship in her honor: ''Pittsburgh'' was selected and renamed USS ''Canberra''. The ship was launched on 19 April 1943 by Alice, Lady Dixon, the wife of Sir Owen Dixon, Australia's ambassador to the United States, and is one of two United States warships (the other being the Littoral Class Combat Ship USS Canberra (LCS-30)) to be named after a foreign capital city. ''Canberra'' was commissioned into the USN on 14 October 1943, Captain Alex Rieman Early, USN commanding. The Australian Government returned this tribute by naming a new destroyer, , in honor of the US stand during the Battle of Bataan.

Operational history

World War II

She left Boston in January 1944,''Canberra'', in ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' San Diego, and joined Task Force 58 in mid-February. In late February, the ship provided bombardment support during the Battle of Eniwetok.Clark, ''The Fighting Canberras'', p. 12 During March and April, the cruiser formed part of the carrier task group, supporting the aircraft carrier during air raids on Palaus, Yap, Ulithi and Woleai during 31 March and 1 April. On 13 April, ''Canberra'' escorted ''Yorktown''s aircraft when they provided support to amphibious landings at Hollandia and Wakde.

From 29 April to 1 May, the cruiser was attached to the group for air attacks on Truk, during the operation, ''Canberra'' detached to shell a Japanese airbase at Satawan. The cruiser was involved in raids on Marcus and Wake Islands during May, and in June joined operations to capture the Mariana and Palau Islands. As part of this campaign, ''Canberra'' participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and shelled Japanese positions in the Bonin Islands. During August and September, the ship performed raids on the Palaus and the Philippines providing gunfire support during the Morotai landings.

At the start of October, ''Canberra'' joined Task Force 38, tasked with performing air raids on Okinawa and Taiwan, in preparation for the landings at Leyte. On 13 October, an air-dropped torpedo from a Japanese aircraft hit the cruiser below her armour belt. The explosion killed 23 personnel and exposed the engineering spaces to the ocean, stalling the ship. took ''Canberra'' under tow for a rendezvous with the tug , which took over the tow after putting a salvage crew aboard. During the tow, the salvage officer from ''Munsee'' was killed while diving in the cruiser's flooded engine room to make temporary repairs. A week into the tow towards Ulithi, ''Munsee'' was joined by the War Shipping Administration leased tug ''Watch Hill''. It took another week for the two tugboats to bring ''Canberra'' to the repair ship . After temporary repairs at Manus, ''Canberra'' sailed under her own power to Boston Navy Yard. The cruiser was docked for repairs, which lasted from February to October 1945. The cruiser was deployed to the west coast of the United States in late 1945.

''Canberra'' received seven battle stars for her wartime service.

''Boston'' class conversion

''Canberra'' was decommissioned on 7 March 1947 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, located in Bremerton, Washington. ''Canberra'' and sister ship were marked for conversion into guided missile cruisers, ''Canberra'' was redesignated with the hull number CAG-2 and on 4 January 1952, she was towed to the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey, for conversion into a .

During the conversion, ''Canberra''s aft 8-inch and 5-inch gun turrets were replaced with two twin RIM-2 Terrier missile launchers. Her aft superstructure was rebuilt, and the two funnels were redesigned as a single unit. The upgrade of the ship concluded in June 1956, making ''Canberra'' the second guided-missile ship in the USN fleet. If the conversion proved successful, the plan was to replace the rest of the ship's gun armament with missiles at a later date. However, by 1964, the rapid advancement of missile technology made the Terrier system obsolete, and full conversion was not pursued.

Post-conversion career

''Canberra'' was recommissioned on 15 June 1956, and homeported at Norfolk, Virginia. From June until March 1957, the cruiser operated from Norfolk and through the Caribbean. On 14 March, ''Canberra'' delivered President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bermuda for a conference with Harold Macmillan, the British Prime Minister. On 12 June, the cruiser served as review ship for the International Naval Review at Hampton Roads. After a training cruise during July and August, ''Canberra'' was deployed to the Mediterranean for NATO Operation Strikeback.

The cruiser returned to American waters on 9 March 1958. In mid-April 1958, ''Boston'' and ''Canberra'' hosted a change of command ceremonies in which Rear Admiral Charles B. Martell relieved Rear Admiral Charles L. Melson as Commander Cruiser Division Four at Norfolk Naval Base.

On 26 May, the ceremony for the selection of the Unknown Soldier representing World War II occurred aboard ''Canberra''. From June to August, the cruiser sailed on another training cruise, before docking at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul.

From 3 March until 24 October 1960, the cruiser made an 8-month round-the-world cruise to show the flag