HMAS Canterbury (CLA-1918(1938-mod))
The Australis Navy laid down 4 of the current 'C' class cruisers in 1915 with completion dates of 1917-18. Because of their late completion, the Australis ships did not even make it to Europe in time for the war. As such the ships only ever carried out peacetime drills and training so the ships were in remarkably good condition when they were taken in hand for conversion to AA cruisers in 1936. This required the removal of the single 6 inch and their replacement by the twin 4.5" dual purpose weapons. To adjust for the heavier mountings forward, the forward superstructure for the B 6" mounting was cut right back to only that necessary for the 4.5" mounting. This also allowed the A 4.5" mounting to be mounted further aft than the comparable 6" weapon.
Emerging from this rebuild, the 4 ships were sent to the Battlefleet in Brisbane where they acted with the other refurbished ships and aircraft carriers.
| Displacement | 4,200 tons std, 5,150 full load. |
| Length | 450 ft |
| Breadth | 44 ft |
| Draught | 14 ft |
| Machinery | 2 shaft steam turbines 40,000shp |
| Speed | 28 knots |
| Range | 4,000 miles at 15 knots |
| Armour | 3" side, 1" deck, 1" turrets |
| Armament | 8 x 4.5" (4x2) 8 x 2pd (2x4) 10 x 20mm (3x2 4x1) |
| Aircraft | nil |
| Torpedoes | removed |
| Complement | 340 |
| Notes | HMAS Canterbury 1917 HMAS Pilbarra 1918 HMAS Barossa 1918 HMAS Taupo 1918 |
