A few nice online image editing images I found:
MORE STORIES OF WWII: USN and RAN cruisers of Task Force 44, with two 1942 dating scenarios below - Goodwin Collection, MV.
Image by Kookaburra2011
6346. An inaccurate Australian War memorial record for this image appears to have fed into the Museum Victoria record for the Goodwin Collection, identifying the ships here as USN and RAN cruisers of TF44 at the Battle of the Coral Sea, May 4-8, 1942. It is patently wrong, as the ships here are the Pensacola Class cruiser USS SALT LAKE CITY nearest to the camera, Northampton Class USS CHICAGO, next, HMAS CANBERRA [I] and HMAS AUSTRALIA [II] in unknown order as three and four, with screening destroyers ahead.
As we've now stated elsewhere, HMAS CANBERRRA was not at the Battle of the Coral Sea, but in Sydney completing a refit at that time , and USS SALT LAKE CITY did not arrive in the area from Pearl Harbour in time to be in companby with these ships. As per Kim Dunstan's [sailorsam4]'s comments below, this probvably shows part of the USN-RAN cruiser force en route to the US Marines invasion of Guadalcanal in early August 1942, and possibly leaving Fiji on July 31 for thgose battles.We are also now guessing that this is the same group of cruisers shown at anchor area two images back, and probably was probably taken at Fiji before they put to to sea again.
EDIT: a third, and credible scenario now arrives from Bruce Constable in comments below. We're reproducing it here for the record, but presently can't face re-writing the entries again. A confession: we simply never knew such large battle groups operated sometimes from Brisbane.
Bruce's information: "The war diary for HMAS CANBERRA ( Online at the AWM) shows that on 3rd June 1942 she left Brisbane for exercises in Moreton Bay with HMASs AUSTRALIA and HOBART and USSs CHICAGO, SALT LAKE CITY, HENLEY,HELM, BAGLEY MUGFORD, and PERKINS (Task Force 44 ) and returned next day.
On 23 June all the cruisers along with USSs HENLEY, BAGLEY, JARVIS, and PATTERSON left Brisbane for a sweep into the Coral Sea and then headed for Noumea arriving 28 June.
{Hence the miscaption by the AWM of the Coral Sea Battle?)
Unfortunately no later War Diary for CANBERRA online at the moment. I would guess that the photos are around one of these dates, possibly taken from HOBART which is not in the photos. CANBERRA is still in her Dapple disruptive camo which must have been painted over soon after as she appears in her blue overall color leaving Wellington on 22 July 1942.
Thanks Bruce.
Photo: Collection of David Ralph Goodwin, RAN 1938-1943, Museum Victoria, image MM 112312. The photo ius also held in the Australian War Memorial, image ID P02497.005, donor M. Williams, but with a caption that should be ignored. No photographer is named, and the image is listed as copyright expired, public domain.
