Name Cape Don Route Australian coast Maiden voyage 29 March 1963 Launched 1962 Draft 4.37 m Completed 1963 | Laid down 1962 Construction started 1962 Length 74 m Beam 13 m | |
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Owner Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Limited Builders State Dockyard, New South Wales | ||
MV Cape Don is a former lighthouse tender, now a museum ship in Waverton, New South Wales, Australia.
Built and launched by the State Dockyard at Newcastle, New South Wales in 1962 for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service, she serviced the lighthouses, lightships and buoys of the Australian coast from 1963 to the early 1990s. She is being restored by the labour of enthusiasts to become a museum and training ship. She is listed on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels. She is currently berthed at the former coal loading wharf in Balls Head Bay, Waverton, New South Wales.
Service history
In 1973, the Cape Don assisted in the recovery of two anchors which were jettisoned in 1803 from HMS Investigator whilst under the command of Matthew Flinders. In 1987 she transported the tower of the former lighthouse from the Neptune Islands to Port Adelaide for inclusion in the collection of the South Australian Maritime Museum.
