The USS Canberra has been commissioned by the United States Navy in Sydney, Australia, making it the first ever US Navy vessel to be commissioned for service in a foreign port. The move is highly symbolic, as the Independence class littoral-combat ship is named after an Australian cruiser that was sunk while supporting US marines at Guadalcanal in WWII.
The commissioning of this ship has proven the commitment and cooperation of Australia and the United States to curb Chinese influence in the Pacific. Coinciding with the ceremony, several nations are taking part in the joint exercise, Talisman Sabre. The nations present are: Australia, the US, Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Korea, Tonga, and Britain.
This comes after the trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK, and the US, AUKUS, which is set to give Australia a fleet of nuclear submarines. This increased cooperation is likely to continue well into the future, as Chinese incursions in the South China Sea are unlikely to halt.
