Крейсер «Канберра» (I33/D33): История и гибель австралийского корабля

Australian heavy cruiser (1928 1943)

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 s. Constructed in Scotland during the mid 1920s, the ship 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, 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 9 August 1942, Canberra was struck by the opening Japanese shots of the Battle of Savo Island, and was quickly crippled, and according to the crew, she was torpedoed by friendly fire. Unable to propel herself, listing heavily and burning, the cruiser was evacuated and then sunk in Ironbottom Sound by two American destroyers. The United States Navy cruiser Canberra was named in honour of the Australian ship. Later, in 2023, the US Navy named a new Independence class littoral combat ship also after the Canberra, which became the first US warship commissioned in a foreign port.

Canberra was one of seven Kent class cruisers—a subclass of the —designed by Eustace Tennyson D'Eyncourt. The ship was 590 feet (180 m) long between perpendiculars and 630 feet (192 m) overall, with a beam of 68.25 feet (21 m), and a maximum draught of 21 feet (6 m). She displaced 9,850 tons at light load, and 10,000 tons at standard load. A mixture of .303 inch machine guns were carried for close defence work: initially this consisted of four Vickers machine guns and twelve Lewis machine guns, although four Lewis guns were later removed. These ships were to be named and Canberra, with both to be built by John Brown & Company, at their shipyard at Clydebank, Scotland: the only two County class ships built in Scotland. Canberra was launched on 31 May 1927 by Princess Mary; the first ship of the RAN launched by a member of the Royal Family. Work on the ship was completed on 10 July 1928, the day after the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN. Canberra cost approximately A£2 million to construct. The damage did not prevent the ship from operating, and it was not until early 1930 that the affected hull plates were replaced. In September 1931, Canberra visited New Caledonia and Fiji. During November, Canberra attempted to locate the German merchant raider Atlantis. In early March, Canberra encountered two merchant ships; a tanker supplying a possible merchant raider, which split up and fled when ordered to stop. Canberra pursued the suspected raider, and fired on her from maximum range to avoid a retaliatory attack, while her Walrus amphibian attempted to stop the tanker by dropping several bombs. Both ships (the raider supply ship Coburg and the captured Norwegian tanker Ketty Brøvig) had commenced scuttling after the first attack from their pursuit, but the Australians continued attacking: the Walrus used all her bombs, while Canberra fired 215 shells, many of them misses. Canberra was assigned back to Australia in July; operating around the western and southern coasts. This may have been one of many false alarms throughout the night; however, one of the midget submarines had attempted to fire its torpedoes at a target, but these did not release because of damage sustained during the infiltration.

During the afternoon of 8 August, a Japanese task force commanded by Vice Admiral Gunichi Mikawa and consisting of five cruisers and a destroyer began to approach the south of Savo Island, with the intention to attack the naval force supporting the landing at Guadalcanal, then those at Tulagi. Anticipating a naval attack following several assaults by land based Japanese aircraft, the Allied commander of the naval forces, Rear Admiral Victor Crutchley, split his forces around Savo Island: Crutchley aboard HMAS Australia led Canberra, Chicago, and the destroyers Patterson and Bagley on patrol of the southern waters. Around 01:00 on 9 August, the engines of scout planes from Mikawa's ships were heard, but as no warning came from the other groups, it was assumed they were friendly. The Japanese scout planes dropped flares to silhouette Canberra and Chicago. At least one torpedo strike was reported during the Japanese attack, although none of the 19 torpedoes fired at Canberra by the Japanese cruisers were recorded as hitting their target. From the 819 strong ship's company, 84 were killed (74 during the battle, 10 dying later from wounds), and another 109 were wounded. At 03:30, Patterson came alongside and relayed orders from Rear Admiral Turner: if Canberra could not achieve mobility by 06:30, she would be abandoned and sunk. While still afloat, and in no apparent danger of sinking, damage control and repair options were being evaluated. It was determined that Canberras engines could not be repaired by the 0630 deadline, and she was to be scuttled, instead of being towed over to Tulagi harbor for emergency repairs. She was one of the first ships to be sunk in what was eventually named "Ironbottom Sound". Three US cruisers were also destroyed during the battle and a US destroyer damaged. 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 the only United States warship to be named after a foreign capital city. Although King George VI had announced that the ship would be renamed Canberra, the duplication of ship names with the United States Navy was against RAN policy. Many of the first Australian sailors posted to Shropshire in early 1943 were Canberra survivors. Canberras wartime service was recognised with four battle honours: "East Indies 1940–41", "Pacific 1941–42", "Guadalcanal 1942", and "Savo Island 1942".

Canberras wreck was rediscovered and examined by Robert Ballard and his crew in July and August 1992, almost exactly fifty years after her scuttling. She lies upright on the ocean floor, approximately 2500 feet (762 m) below sea level, and while her hull was basically intact, she shows visible signs of shell hits and fire damage amidships. adjacent to the National Carillon. It incorporates a naval anchor and a section of chain cable (of the same type carried by Canberra), The memorial is shaped like the bow of a ship, and points toward Savo Island. The ship's service is also recognised in a stained glass window at the Garden Island Naval Chapel.