HMAS Canberra (II) was an Adelaide-class guided missile frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, based on the Oliver Hazard Perry class design and built in the United States. Launched in December 1978 and commissioned in March 1981, she was the second RAN vessel to bear the name Canberra and served for nearly 25 years. With a displacement of over 4,000 tonnes, a length of 138 metres, and a crew of around 184, HMAS Canberra was equipped with a Mark 13 missile launcher for Harpoon and Standard missiles, a 76mm main gun, Phalanx CIWS, torpedo tubes, and the capability to operate up to two Seahawk helicopters.Â
Throughout her career, HMAS Canberra undertook a variety of important missions, including escorting the Royal Yacht Britannia during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1988 visit, enforcing UN sanctions in the Persian Gulf, and participating in peacekeeping operations in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands. Decommissioned in 2005 as the first of her class, she was subsequently scuttled off Ocean Grove, Victoria in October 2009 to form an artificial reef and popular dive wreck off Barwon Heads, Victoria.
