| Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra as she leaves Wellington, New Zealand, en route to participate in the invasion of Guadalcanal and Tulagi. She would be sunk in the Battle of Save Island on August 9, 1942. A port abeam profile of the Kent class cruiser HMAS Canberra departing New Zealand to take part in its last war patrol to the Solomons Islands from which she would not return. HMAS Canberra was sunk on 9 August 1942 off Savo Island in the battle of Guadalcanal. The ship’s amphibian aircraft, positioned amidships, was also lost with the ship. HMAS Canberra was detailed to Task Group 62.6 under United Kingdom Royal Navy Admiral Sir Victor A. C. Crutchley (November 2, 1893 – January 24, 1986) with light cruiser HMAS Hobart and heavy cruiser HMAS Australia, the flagship. Also detailed to Task Group 62.6 was heavy cruiser USS Chicago (CA-29) and destroyers USS Bagley (DD-386) and USS Patterson (DD-392). Captain Howard D. Bode (January 23, 1889 – April 19, 1943) in Chicago commanded the Southern Force of which Canberra was a part, but Crutchley broke his flag there. HMAS Canberra (I33/D33), named after the Australian capital city of Canberra, was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) heavy cruiser of the Kent sub-class of County-class cruisers. Constructed in Scotland during the mid-1920s, the ship was commissioned on July 10, 1928, and spent the 1st part of her career primarily operating in Australian waters, with some deployments to the China Station. At the outbreak of World War II, 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, Canberra was involved in the hunt for several German auxiliary cruisers. The cruiser resumed operations in Australian waters, but when Japan entered the war, she was quickly reassigned to convoy duties around New Guinea, interspersed with operations in Malaysian and Javanese waters. Canberra later joined Task Force 44, and was involved in the Guadalcanal Campaign and the Tulagi landings. On August 9, 1942, 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 Ironbottom Sound by 2 American destroyers. The United States Navy Baltimore-class cruiser USS Canberra (CA-70) was named in honour of the Australian ship at United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945), urging, and is the only American warship named for either a foreign warship or a foreign capital city. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1998.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.57 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 5700 x 4516 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | July 22, 1942 |
| Location | |
| City | Wellington |
| State or Province | Wellington |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | 80-G-13454-A |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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