The US Navy (USN) has deepened its ties with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) by commissioning its latest Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in Sydney: the first time such a commissioning event has been held in Australia.
USS Canberra (LCS 30), the 16th commissioned Independence-variant LCS, was commissioned at a ceremony at the RAN’s Fleet Base East in Sydney on 22 July 2023. The ship had departed its homeport of Naval Base San Diego on 13 June, visiting American Samoa and the Pacific Island Nation of Fiji prior to its arrival in Sydney.
“This truly is a special occasion for our fleet and our nation to be here with you in Australia, one of our closest allies, to celebrate the commissioning of our navy’s newest warship that is destined to serve throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” the US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, said at the commissioning ceremony.
“Today marks a proud moment which our Royal Australian Navy is privileged to share alongside our allies and friends in the United States Navy,” said Australian Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond at the event. “The connection between our navies, forged in battle during the Second World War, is reflected in the name USS Canberra.”
USS Canberra is the second USN ship named for Australia’s capital. The first, a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser, was renamed from Pittsburgh to Canberra on 16 October 1942 and commissioned on 14 October 1943 in honour of the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, which was lost fighting alongside the USN at the Battle of Savo Island in the Second World War. The first USS Canberra was decommissioned on 2 February 1970.
The types of LCS variant, the Independence class and the Freedom class, were designed to be fast, optimally manned surface combatants that could accept modules tailored to specific missions and could operate in the littoral environment as well as the open ocean.
However, the LCS programme has had its problems. The development and construction of the first Independence-class variant, for example, ran significantly over budget and in May 2022 it was reported that six of the USN’s fleet of 13 Independence-class LCSs were suffering from hull cracks above the waterline. Thus, while USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) entered service in April 2023 and three more Independence-variant LCSs will follow, the first two ships of the type, Independence and Coronado, have already been retired, having served for only 11 and eight years respectively.
Peter Felstead