MV Cape Don

MV Cape Don is a museum and training ship and former research vessel and lighthouse tender in Waverton, New South Wales, Australia. 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 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 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, Waverton, New South Wales.

Design and construction
The Cape Don was built in Newcastle by the NSW State Dockyard in 1962. She, along with her two identical sister ships Cape Moreton and Cape Pillar, was designed by the Australian Shipping Board for the Commonwealth Lighthouse Service as a lighthouse tender. She was equipped with 3 lifeboats and a LARC-V on her port side.

Cape Don displaces 2,140 tonnes, measuring 76.25 m long and 12.8 m abeam. She is fitted with a 5-cylinder 2-stroke Polar M65T diesel engine, which drives a single 4-blade variable-pitch propeller.

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, making the first scientific study of the Strait.

In 1985, she transported the tower of the first Neptune Islands lighthouse to Port Adelaide for inclusion in the collection of the South Australian Maritime Museum.

Starting October 2022, TAFE NSW 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, Western Australia. The anchors were jettisoned by Matthew Flinders 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 South Australian Maritime Museum in Adelaide and the stream anchor sent to the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.