USS Canberra ( CA - 70 ) USS " Canberra " ( CA - 70 / CAG - 2 ) was a and later a guided missile cruiser of the United States Navy . Originally to be named USS " Pittsburgh " , the ship was renamed " Canberra " before launch , for the Royal Australian Navy ' s , , which was sunk during the Battle of Savo Island . USS " Canberra " is the only USN warship named for a foreign warship or a foreign capital city . The ship entered service in 1943 , and served in the Pacific theater of World War II until she was torpedoed during the Aerial Battle of Taiwan - Okinawa and forced to return to the United States for repairs . Placed in reserve after the war , " Canberra " was selected for conversion into the second guided - missile carrying warship in the USN fleet . Following the conversion , she was host to the ceremony for selecting the Unknown Soldier representing World War II in 1958 , undertook an eight - month round - the - world cruise in 1960 , participated in the Cuban Missile Crisis naval blockade in 1962 , and was deployed to the Vietnam War on five occasions between 1965 and 1969 . " Canberra " was decommissioned in 1970 , struck in 1978 , and broken up in 1980 . One of her propellers is preserved at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum , while the ship ' s bell was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum in 2001 . Construction . The heavy cruiser was laid down as USS " Pittsburgh " by the Bethlehem Steel Company Fore River Shipyard at Quincy in Massachusetts on 3 September 1941 . During construction , in recognition of the valor displayed by the Australian cruiser during the Battle of Savo Island , United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wished to commemorate the Australian ship ' s loss by naming a US ship in her honor : " Pittsburgh " was selected and renamed USS " Canberra " . 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 warship or a foreign capital city . " Canberra " was commissioned into the USN on 14 October 1943 , Captain Alex Rieman Early , USN commanding . The Australian Government returned this tribute by naming a new destroyer , , in honor of the US stand during the Battle of Bataan . Operational history . World War II . Leaving Boston in January 1944 , escorted by the destroyer , " Canberra " sailed to Pearl Harbor via San Diego , and joined Task Force 58 in mid - February . In late February , the ship provided bombardment support during the Battle of Eniwetok . During March and April , the cruiser formed part of the carrier task group , supporting the aircraft carrier during air raids on Palaus , Yap , Ulithi , and Woleai during 31 March and 1 April . On 13 April , " Canberra " was again escorting when " Yorktown " s aircraft provided support to amphibious landings at Hollandia and Wakde . From 29 April to 1 May , the cruiser was attached to the group for air attacks on Truk ; during the operation , " Canberra " detached to shell a Japanese airbase at Satawan . The cruiser was involved in raids on Marcus and Wake Islands during May , and in June joined operations to capture the Mariana and Palau Islands . As part of this campaign , " Canberra " participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea , and shelled Japanese bases in the Bonin Islands . During August and September , the ship performed raids on the Palaus and the Philippines , provided support during the Morotai landings . At the start of October , " Canberra " joined Task Force 38 , which was tasked with performing air raids on Okinawa and Taiwan , in preparation for the landings at Leyte . On 13 October , an air - dropped torpedo from a Japanese aircraft hit the cruiser below her armour belt . The explosion killed 23 personnel and exposed the engineering spaces to the ocean , stalling the ship . took " Canberra " under tow for a rendezvous with the tug , which took over the tow after putting a salvage crew aboard . During the tow , the salvage officer from " Munsee " died while diving in the cruiser ' s flooded engine room to make temporary repairs . A week into the tow towards Ulithi , " Munsee " was joined by the War Shipping Administration leased tug " Watch Hill " . It took another week for the two tugboats to bring " Canberra " to the repair ship . After temporary repairs at Manus , " Canberra " sailed under her own power to to Boston Navy Yard . The cruiser was docked for repairs , which lasted from February to October 1945 . The cruiser was deployed to the west coast of the United States just before the end of the war . " Canberra " received seven battle star s for her wartime service . " Boston " class conversion . " Canberra " was decommissioned on 7 March 1947 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard , located in Bremerton , Washington . " Canberra " and sister ship were marked for conversion into guided missile heavy cruisers ( " Canberra " was redesignated with the hull number CAG - 2 ) , and on 4 January 1952 , she was towed to the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden , New Jersey for conversion into a . During the conversion , " Canberra " s aft 8 - inch and 5 - inch gun turrets were replaced with two twin RIM - 2 Terrier missile launchers . Her aft superstructure was rebuilt , and the two funnels were redesigned as a single unit . The upgrade of the ship concluded in June 1956 , making " Canberra " the second guided - missile ship in the USN fleet . If the conversion proved successful , the plan was to replace the rest of the ship ' s gun armament with missiles at a later date . However , by 1964 , the rapid advancement of missile technology made the Terrier system obsolete , and full conversion was not pursued . Post - conversion career . " Canberra " was recommissioned on 15 June 1956 , and home ported at Norfolk , Virginia . From June until March 1957 , the cruiser operated from Norfolk and through the Caribbean . On 14 March , " Canberra " delivered President Dwight D . Eisenhower to Bermuda for a conference with Harold Macmillan , the British Prime Minister . On 12 June , the cruiser served as review ship for the International Naval Review at Hampton Roads . After a training cruise during July and August , " Canberra " was deployed to the Mediterranean for NATO Operation Strikeback . The cruiser returned to American waters on 9 March 1958 . In mid - April 1958 , " Boston " and " Canberra " hosted change of command ceremonies in which Rear Admiral Charles B . Martell relieved Rear Admiral Charles L . Melson as Commander Cruiser Division Four at Norfolk Naval Base . On 26 May , the ceremony for the selection of the Unknown Solder representing World War II occurred aboard " Canberra " . From June to August , the cruiser sailed on another training cruise , before docking at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul . From 3 March until 24 October 1960 , the cruiser made an 8 - month round - the - world cruise to show the flag and demonstrate her missile capabilities to U . S . and Allied forces . During the voyage , she flew the flag of Rear Admiral J . McN . Taylor , Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Cruiser Force and Cruiser Division 6 . During this deployment , the ship visited the site of her Australian cruiser namesake ' s sinking , along with locations where the American cruiser had herself served during World War II . In 1962 , she sailed south from Norfolk to participate in the naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis . During the Vietnam War , " Canberra " was home ported at San Diego . She deployed to Vietnam five times from 1965 to 1969 where her 8 - inch and 5 - inch guns provided support for US troops . During the deployments in 1967 and 1968 , " Canberra " operated north of the DMZ shelling bridges , transport routes and shore installations . On 2 March 1967 , the cruiser was hit by two shells fired from ashore , which only caused injuries and minor structural damage . On 6 April 1967 , a young seaman named Doug Hegdahl was accidentally blown overboard by one of the 5 - inch guns ; he was captured by a North Vietnamese gunboat and imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton . Hegdahl ' s recollections of his time there would later serve as proof of atrocities committed by the North Vietnamese at POW camps . At the conclusion of her second tour of duty in April 1967 , the cruiser visited Melbourne , and was in Australian waters in May for commemorations of the Battle of the Coral Sea . During the 1968 Tet Offensive , " Canberra " went south to support the troops at Hue and fired 35 , 000 rounds in 31 days . On 1 May 1968 , " Canberra " returned to her original hull number of CA - 70 ; following the obsolescence of her missile armament , her 8 - inch guns were reclassified as the cruiser ' s main armament , although the Terrier launchers were retained until decommissioning . Her last Vietnam deployment ended in early January 1969 . Decommissioning and fate . USS " Canberra " was decommissioned on 2 February 1970 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 July 1978 . She was sold for scrap to National Metal on 15 July 1980 , and removed from the Suisun Bay Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on 1 August and broken up . One of the ship ' s propellers was placed on display at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum . The ship ' s bell was kept in storage , and despite US law preventing the possession of naval artifacts by other nations , a successful campaign saw the bell presented to Australian Prime Minister John Howard by US President George W . Bush on 10 September 2001 , as commemoration for the 50 years of the ANZUS treaty . The bell was placed on display in the USA Gallery of the Australian National Maritime Museum .