HMAS Canberra (D33) - Aftermath

Aftermath

Canberra's wartime service was recognised with four battle honours: "East Indies 1940–41", "Pacific 1941–42", "Guadalcanal 1942", and "Savo Island 1942".

Captain Howard Bode of USS Chicago was formally criticised for his actions during the battle, particularly for not taking lead when Australia departed, and for not warning the northern cruiser force of the approaching Japanese ships, leading to the loss of the three US cruisers.

In recognition of the valour displayed by the Australian ship and her company, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wished to commemorate the loss of HMAS Canberra by naming a US ship in her honour. The under-construction Baltimore class cruiser Pittsburgh was selected to be renamed USS Canberra. The ship was launched on 19 April 1943 by Lady Alice C. Dixon, the wife of Sir Owen Dixon, Australia's ambassador to the United States, and is the only United States warship to be named after a foreign capital city.

Around the same time, the British government announced that the heavy cruiser HMS Shropshire (a sister ship to Canberra, but of the London subclass) would be transferred to the RAN as a gift. Although King George VI had announced that the ship would be renamed Canberra, the duplication of ship names with the United States Navy was against RAN policy. Although it was thought that Australia had a greater claim to the name, the Australian government decided to retain Shropshire's old name after learning that the US offer had come directly from President Roosevelt. Many of the first Australian sailors posted to Shropshire in early 1943 were Canberra survivors.