MV ''Cape Don'' is a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

and

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

and former

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

and

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. The work is often carried out by ships which also act as buoy tenders. In ...

Waverton, New South Wales Waverton is a harbour-side suburb on the lower North Shore (Sydney), North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Waverton is four kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. She is the only remaining Australian lighthouse supply ship and is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels. Built and launched by the

State Dockyard The State Dockyard was a ship building and maintenance facility operated by the Government of New South Wales in Carrington, New South Wales, Carrington, Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia between 1942 and 1987. H ...

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

in 1962 for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service, she serviced the lighthouses, lightships and buoys of the Australian coast from 1963 to 1990. She was also used as a research vessel, and was involved in numerous high-profile scientific expeditions including the salvage of two of HMS ''Investigator'''s anchors. ''Cape Don'' is being restored by the MV Cape Don Society, which is overseen by the Sea Heritage Foundation. She is berthed at the former coal loading wharf in

Balls Head Bay Balls Head Bay, formerly known as Oyster Cove, Wollstonecraft Bay, Sugarworks Bay, Powder Works Bay and Kerosene Bay, is a bay located to the west of the Waverton Peninsula, west of Balls Head and to the east of Berry Island, on the north of Sydn ...

Design and construction

The ''Cape Don'' was built in Newcastle by the

in 1962. She, along with her two identical sister ships ''Cape Moreton'' and ''Cape Pillar'', was designed by the

Australian Shipping Board The Australian Shipping Board was an Australian government authority over shipping between 1946 and 1961. The board was established on 1 January 1946, based in Melbourne. In 1956 the Australian Coastal Shipping Commission (trading as the Aust ...

for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service as a

. She was equipped with 3 lifeboats and a

LARC-V LARC-V (Lighter, Amphibious Resupply, Cargo, 5 (V) ton), is an aluminium-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle capable of transporting 5 tons. It was developed in the United States during the 1950s, and is used in a variety of auxiliary roles to ...

on her port side. ''Cape Don'' displaces 2,140 tonnes, measuring long and abeam. She is fitted with a 5-cylinder

2-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which ...

Polar M65T

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

, which drives a single 4-blade variable-pitch

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

Service history

''Cape Don'' was launched on 28 May 1962. In 1979, a scientific team organised by the Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences used the ''Cape Don'' to set up a marine monitoring station in the

Bass Strait Bass Strait () is a strait separating the island state of Tasmania from the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland (more specifically the coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, with the exception of the land border across Boundary Islet). The ...

, making the first scientific study of the Strait. In 1985, she transported the tower of the first

Neptune Islands The Neptune Islands consist of two groups of islands located close to the entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. They are well known as a venue for great white shark tourism. Description The Neptune Islands consists of two groups of isla ...

lighthouse to

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

for inclusion in the collection of the

South Australian Maritime Museum The South Australian Maritime Museum is a state government museum, part of the History Trust of South Australia. The museum opened in 1986 in a collection of historic buildings in the heart of Port Adelaide, South Australia's first heritage pre ...

. Starting October 2022,

TAFE NSW TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...

has been collaborating with Sea Heritage Foundation to run maritime industry and hospitality courses aboard ''Cape Don''.

Recovery of ''Investigator'''s anchors

In 1973, the ''Cape Don'' was used in an expedition to find and recover two of HMS ''Investigator''s anchors in the

Recherche Archipelago The Archipelago of the Recherche, known locally as the Bay of Isles, is a group of 105 islands, and over 1200 "obstacles to shipping", off the south coast of Western Australia. The islands stretch from east to west and to off-shore encomp ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The anchors were jettisoned by

Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...

during rough weather whilst the ship was moored on Middle Island. The expedition to retrieve the anchors began in December 1972 and was run by members of the Underwater Explorers Club of South Australia. On 14 January 1973, the best bower anchor (starboard bow anchor) was located in Goose Island Bay, followed by a stream anchor (smaller anchor, typically used as a spare). The two anchors were retrieved on 19 January, with the best bower anchor sent to the

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and the stream anchor sent to the

National Museum of Australia The National Museum of Australia (NMA), in the national capital Canberra, preserves and interprets Australia's social history, exploring the key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation. It was formally established by the ''Nation ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

References

External links

The MV Cape Don Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cape Don Lighthouse tenders of Australia Museum ships in Australia 1962 ships