Austal Launches Future LCS Canberra for U.S. Navy

The future USS Canberra (LCS 30), launched into the Mobile River, Alabama, on March 30 by Austal USA. *AUSTAL USA*

MOBILE, Ala. — Austal USA launched the future USS Canberra (LCS 30) into Alabama’s Mobile River on March 30, the company said in an April 1 release.

The Canberra, an Independence-class littoral combat ship, is the first ship to be launched by Austal USA in 2021 and the first to be launched from the company’s recently acquired dry dock. The Canberra is one of 19 Independence-class LCSs being built by Austal for the U.S. Navy. Austal USA so far has delivered 11 of the class to the Navy.

The next steps for the Canberra are sea trials and then delivery to the Navy.

LCS 30 is named in honor of the HMAS Canberra, a Royal Australian Navy heavy cruiser that fought in the Battle of Savo Island in the Solomon Islands in August 1942 during World War II and was sunk along with three U.S. Navy heavy cruisers by imperial Japanese navy forces. Later in the war, the U.S. Navy commissioned a heavy cruiser, USS Canberra (CA 70), in honor of the Australian ship and crew. The Canberra later was modified into a guided-missile heavy cruiser that served during the Vietnam War.