President Donald Trump announced on Friday while speaking at a joint press conference next to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that a new U.S. Navy ship will be named "Canberra."
Three Australian Navy ships have been named Canberra, Australia's capital city, in the country's history. The U.S. vessel will specifically be named in memory of the heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra, a ship that sunk during the Battle of Savo Island in World War II. Not long after the sinking, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered an American cruiser, the USS Pittsburgh, be renamed the the USS Canberra (CA-70/CAG-2) in memory of the HMAS Canberra. The first USS Canberra was decommissioned in 1970.
Trump said in his announcement at the White House that the new Canberra will be Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) 30, and the ship's sponsor will be Australian Minister of Defence Marise Payne.
"I know that the USS Canberra will be a worthy successor to her Australian namesake and her American predecessor, the former Navy Baltimore-class cruiser the USS Canberra," Trump said. "As she sails the open sea, the new USS Canberra will symbolize to all who cross her path the enduring friendship between the United States and Australia. There is no closer friendship."
Turnbull thanked Trump for the honor of having an American vessel named Canberra. Turnbull also noted LCS-30 will be built by Australian company Austal at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama where American workers are employed.
"I want to thank you for the very rare honor you have shown to Australia by naming one of your future littoral combat ships the USS Canberra," Turnbull said. "What a great symbol of our alliance and our shared security endeavors. What an extraordinary statement of commitment."
"What a great example of a hundred years of mateship," Turnbull said.