HMAS Canberra

HMAS Canberra is a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ship, specifically a landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship. The ship is named after Canberra, the capital city of Australia. HMAS Canberra is one of two Canberra-class LHDs, the largest ships ever built for the RAN.

Design and Construction

HMAS Canberra was built by Navantia, a Spanish shipbuilding company, in collaboration with BAE Systems Australia. The ship's design is based on the Juan Carlos I, a multi-purpose amphibious assault ship in the Spanish Navy. The construction of HMAS Canberra began in 2008 in Spain and was completed in Australia in 2014.

Operational History

HMAS Canberra was commissioned into the RAN on 28 November 2014. Since then, the ship has participated in numerous exercises and operations, both domestically and internationally. These include Operation Sovereign Borders, a military operation aimed at combating maritime people smuggling, and Operation Fiji Assist, a humanitarian assistance operation in response to Cyclone Winston in 2016.

Capabilities

HMAS Canberra is capable of conducting a range of military and humanitarian operations. The ship can carry over 1,000 personnel, along with their equipment and vehicles. It also has a flight deck that can operate six helicopters simultaneously, and a well deck for launching and recovering landing craft.

See Also

• HMAS Adelaide (L01)
• List of active Royal Australian Navy ships
• Amphibious warfare ship