Originally to be named USS Pittsburgh, the ship was renamed before launch to honor the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra sunk during the Battle of Savo Island.

The ship entered service in 1943 and served in the Pacific theater of World War II until she was torpedoed during the Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa and forced to return to the United States for repairs.

The Baltimore-class heavy cruiser was laid down as USS Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Steel Company Fore River Shipyard at Quincy in Massachusetts on 3 September 1941.

During construction, in recognition of the valor displayed by the Australian cruiser HMAS Canberra during the Battle of Savo Island, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wished to commemorate the Australian ship's loss by naming a US ship in her honor: Pittsburgh was selected and renamed USS Canberra.

[5] From 29 April to 1 May, the cruiser was attached to the USS Enterprise group for air attacks on Truk, during the operation, Canberra detached to shell a Japanese airbase at Satawan.

[5] As part of this campaign, Canberra participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and shelled Japanese positions in the Bonin Islands.

[7] During the tow, the salvage officer from Munsee was killed while diving in the cruiser's flooded engine room to make temporary repairs.

[6] Canberra was decommissioned on 7 March 1947 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, located in Bremerton, Washington.

[5] On 14 March, Canberra delivered President Dwight D. Eisenhower to Bermuda for a conference with Harold Macmillan, the British Prime Minister.

[5] From 3 March until 24 October 1960, the cruiser made an 8-month round-the-world cruise to show the flag and demonstrate her missile capabilities to U.S. and Allied forces.

On 6 April 1967, a young seaman named Doug Hegdahl was accidentally blown overboard by one of the 5-inch guns; he was captured by a North Vietnamese gunboat and imprisoned in the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

At the conclusion of her second tour of duty in April 1967, the cruiser visited Melbourne, and was in Australian waters in May for commemorations of the Battle of the Coral Sea.

[11] She was sold for scrap to National Metal on 15 July 1980, and removed from the Suisun Bay Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility on 1 August and broken up.