USS Canberra (CA-70)

33°52′10″S 151°11′55″E / 33.8694298°S 151.1986428°E / -33.8694298; 151.1986428

USS Canberra underway on 9 January 1961
History
United States
Name	Canberra
Namesake	HMAS Canberra (D33)
Ordered	1 July 1940
Builder	Fore River Shipyard
Laid down	3 September 1941
Launched	19 April 1943
Sponsored by	Alice Dixon
Commissioned	14 October 1943
Decommissioned	7 March 1947
Recommissioned	15 June 1956
Decommissioned	2 February 1970
Reclassified	CAG-2, 4 January 1952 CA-70, 1 May 1968
Stricken	31 July 1978
Identification	Callsign: NBLS Hull number: CA-70
Nickname(s)	Can-Do Kangaroo[citation needed]
Honors and awards	See Awards
Fate	Scrapped, 31 July 1980
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Baltimore-class cruiser (as CA-70) Boston-class cruiser (as CAG-2)
Displacement	13,600 tons
Length	673 ft 5 in (205.26 m)
Beam	70 ft 10 in (21.59 m)
Draught	20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Propulsion	Steam turbines, 4 × 615-psi boilers
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	1,142 officers and enlisted
Armament	As CA-70: 9 × 8"/55 guns (203 mm) 12 × 5"/38 guns (127 mm) As CAG-2: 6 × 8"/55 guns (203 mm) 10 × 5 in (130 mm) guns, 12 × 3 in (76 mm) guns (76 mm), 2 × twin-rail Terrier SAM launchers

USS Canberra (CA-70/CAG-2) was a Baltimore-class cruiser and later a Boston-class 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 HMAS Canberra 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.