Canberra meets Canberra on Thursday when 320 crew members from the Royal Australian Navy's new flagship, HMAS Canberra, exercise their freedom of entry to the capital with a march.
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They will be led by their commander, Captain Christopher Smith, who, appropriately, is a Canberran.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr was due to present a ceremonial scroll, representing the freedom of entry to the ship's company, at 2.30pm on Wednesday.
The freedom of entry ceremony, which dates back to medieval times, recognises the strong links between Australia's capital city and the third Royal Australian Navy ship to bear its name.
Beginning at 11am on Thursday, the parade will leave from Knowles Place near the law courts and proceed along London Circuit to Civic Square.
Knowles Place will be closed at the entrance to the car park near the Magistrate's Court from 8.30am to 11am. London Circuit, including Ainslie Place, will be closed from 10.55am to 11.35am.
The parade is part of Canberra's Centenary of Anzac commemorations and will include the navy band and a helicopter fly-past.
Captain Smith, who assumed command of the RAN's largest-ever vessel in June, said he could not be happier with the way the amphibious assault ship and her crew were working out.
"She's a big girl but she is very graceful with a modern azimuth thruster propulsion system. This makes her nimbler than you might expect," he said.
With a range of 17,000 kilometres, a top speed of more than 20 knots (37km/h) and drawing only seven metres [below the waterline], the numbers tell the story.
"The capability is amazing. In addition to transporting vehicles, land forces and equipment, there is a command and control capability [for humanitarian and other missions] and medical facilities equivalent to those in a regional hospital such as Armidale [in NSW]."
Captain Smith, who spent much of his childhood in the ACT and has lived in the region with his wife and three, now adult, children for the last decade, said Thursday would be a proud occasion.
"My mother and sister will be here as well," he said.
HMAS Canberra, which was commissioned last November, has been participating in tests and trials off north Queensland in recent months.
The flagship has a permanent complement of 358. These include soldiers and air force members.
Captain Smith also served aboard the second, and smallest, HMAS Canberra, a guided missile frigate commissioned in 1981 and scuttled in 2009.
The first HMAS Canberra, a heavy cruiser commissioned in 1928 and sunk after the battle of Savo Island in 1942, was less than half the size of the latest flagship. At 231 metres long, the latest Canberra has a 27,500 tonne displacement.
Captain Smith said he was looking forward to catching up with another Canberra resident, and the flagship's "ship's lady", Vickie Coates, on Wednesday and Thursday.
Mrs Coates is the widow of Rear Admiral Nigel Coates, the commander of the second HMAS Canberra when Captain Smith was its navigation officer in the late 1990s.
"Mrs Coates is a part of the ship's family," he said. "She was HMAS Canberra's launch lady [in Spain in 2011]."
