Portal:Military of Australia/Units/September 24

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HMAS Canberra (1927) was a County class cruiser that served with the Royal Australian Navy from 1928 to 1942. She was laid down on 9 September 1925, launched on 31 May 1927 and commissioned on 9 July 1928. After five months in British waters, the Canberra first arrived in Australia at Fremantle, Western Australia on 25 January 1929. Canberra spent the majority of World War II in Australian waters. Just before 0145 on 9 August 1942 Canberra received the opening shots of the Battle of Savo Island from a powerful Japanese cruiser force. Within the first two minutes of the battle she was struck by two torpedoes and over 20 salvoes of 8 inch (203 mm) shellfire. The crew of Canberra suffered 193 casualties during the Battle of Savo Island, including her captain, Frank E. Getting. Nine officers and 65 ratings were missing believed killed. Canberra was replaced by HMAS Shropshire and the USS Canberra was named in her honour.