MV Cape Don facts for kids
MV Cape Don in 2014
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Quick facts for kids History |
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 Australia |
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| Name | Cape Don |
| Namesake | Cape Don Light |
| Owner | Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Limited |
| Route | Australian coast |
| Builder | State Dockyard, Newcastle, New South Wales |
| Laid down | 1962 |
| Launched | 1962 |
| Completed | 1963 |
| Maiden voyage | 29 March 1963 |
| In service | 1963 |
| Out of service | 1990 |
| Homeport | Fremantle |
| Identification |
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| Status | Museum Ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Lighthouse tender |
| Tonnage | 2,103 GRT |
| Length | 74.3 metres (244 ft) |
| Beam | 12.8 metres (42 ft) |
| Draught | 4.37 metres (14.3 ft) |
| Installed power | 2,000 brake horsepower (1,500 kW) |
| Propulsion | Polar M65T engine, 4-blade 2.6-metre (8 ft 6 in) variable-pitch propeller |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h) |
| Complement | 39 |
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. As of 2021 the restoration project is proceeding well.
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.
