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HMAS Canberra (ex-USS Springfield)

Historically, several U.S. Navy guided missile cruisers were offered for transfer to allied navies in the 1960s, including the Providence and Boston classes. While none were ultimately taken up, this mod explores a plausible scenario where the Royal Australian Navy acquired one such ship — the former USS Springfield (CLG-7) — to enhance its long-range air defence and flagship capabilities during the height of the Cold War.

Recommissioned as HMAS Canberra (C 02) in 1968 as a nod to the famous HMAS Canberra which served and was sunk in WW2, the ship would serve as a core surface combatant during the Vietnam War, providing long-range anti-air escort and naval gunfire support for Australian forces. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, she operated as the principal escort and air defence screen for HMAS Melbourne, flying the flag as the RAN’s floating headquarters across regional deployments.

In 1978, Canberra entered a major Service Life Extension Program (SLEP), emerging in 1980 with updated weapons, sensors, and electronic warfare systems. Though powerful, she remained manpower-intensive and costly to maintain, increasingly out of place in a navy shifting toward leaner and more automated platforms. She hung on through the Cold War, even participating in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, before finally being retired in 1992.

• HMAS Canberra 1968 - The baseline transferred configuration from USS Springfield (CLG-7). Retains the original twin-arm Mk 9 launcher with RIM-2F Terrier SAMs, SPG-49 fire control radars, SPS-29 and SPS-30 air search radars, 6-inch forward gun mount, and 5-inch secondaries. Operates as a Cold War flagship with long-range air defence and gunfire support capability.
  
  
• HMAS Canberra 1980 Refit - Emerging from an extensive SLEP, this version replaces the outdated SPS-29 and SPS-30 with SPS-49 and SPS-48 air/surface search radars. The Terrier system is upgraded to fire SM-1ER, with SPG-49 directors replaced by SPG-55. Additional upgrades include the AN/SLQ-32 ESM/ECM system, two Phalanx Block 0 CIWS mounts for close-in defence, and four quad-canister launchers for 16 Harpoon missiles, giving Canberra serious surface strike potential. A powerful but ageing flagship for carrier or task group operations into the early 1990s.

This mod explores a realistic and lore-consistent alternate Cold War timeline for the RAN, offering a major surface combatant that blends real-world U.S. equipment with Australian strategic needs in the Indo-Pacific theatre.


✅ Two detailed variants: a baseline 1968 configuration and a powerful 1980 refit.
✅ A complete evolution from Cold War-era gun/missile cruiser to a modernised SM-1ER and Harpoon-armed fleet flagship.
✅ Offers the RAN a credible AAW escort for HMAS Melbourne, or as a task group leader in regional conflicts.
✅ Perfect for alternate Cold War and Gulf War 1991 scenarios.
✅ Uses only in-game assets, no Sea Lifter required.

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