page_title: HMAS Australia (D84)
section_title: Acquisition and construction
hierarchical_section_title: HMAS Australia (D84) / Acquisition and construction
caption_attribution_description: Photo #: NH 52686 HMAS Australia (Australian Heavy Cruiser, 1928) Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken in 1928, soon after the ship was completed and before her smokestacks were raised. Caption cropped from top of original image. Removed caption read: "Photo # NH 52686 HMAS Australia shortly after completion, with the original short smokestacks"
context_page_description: HMAS Australia was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy. One of two Kent-subclass ships ordered for the RAN in 1924, Australia was laid down in Scotland in 1925, and entered service in 1928. Apart from an exchange deployment to the Mediterranean from 1934 to 1936, during which she became involved in the planned British response to the Abyssinia Crisis, Australia operated in local and South-West Pacific waters until World War II began.
  The cruiser remained near Australia until mid-1940, when she was deployed for duties in the eastern Atlantic, including hunts for German ships and participation in Operation Menace. During 1941, Australia operated in home and Indian Ocean waters, but was reassigned as flagship of the ANZAC Squadron in early 1942. As part of this force, Australia operated in support of United States naval and amphibious operations throughout South-East Asia until the start of 1945, including involvement in the battles at the Coral Sea and Savo Island, the amphibious landings at Guadalcanal and Leyte Gulf, and numerous actions during the New Guinea campaign.
context_section_description: Australia was ordered in 1924 as part of a five-year plan to develop the RAN. She was laid down by John Brown and Company at their shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, on 26 August 1925. The cruiser was launched on 17 March 1927 by Dame Mary Cook, wife of Sir Joseph Cook, the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and former Australian Prime Minister.
  The cruiser was initially fitted with short exhaust funnels, but during sea trials of Australia and other Kent-class ships, it was found that smoke from the boilers was affecting the bridge and aft control position. The funnel design was subsequently lengthened by 15 feet (4.6 m); the taller funnels on the under-construction HMAS Canberra were later switched over to Australia as she neared completion.
  When the ship's badge came up for consideration on 26 December 1926, both Richard Lane-Poole, commander of the Australian Squadron, and William Napier, First Naval Member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board disapproved of the design previously carried by the battlecruiser Australia, and requested new designs. On 26 July 1927, it was decided to use the Coat of arms of Australia as the basis for the badge, with the shield bearing the symbols of the six states and the Federation Star crest depicted in the design. No motto was given to the ship, but when the badge design was updated prior to the planned 1983 acquisition of the British aircraft carrier HMS Invincible (which was to be renamed HMAS Australia), the motto from the battlecruiser, "Endeavour", was added.
  The warship was commissioned into the RAN on 24 April 1928. Construction of Australia cost 1.9 million pounds, very close to the estimated cost. Australia and sister ship HMAS Canberra (also constructed by John Brown) were the only County-class vessels built in Scotland.
caption: Australia under way during sea trials. The original, shorter exhaust funnels are still fitted to the cruiser.
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