MV Cape Don

MV Cape Don in 2014
History
Australia
Name	Cape Don
Namesake	Cape Don Light
Owner	Sea Heritage Foundation Pty Limited[1]
Route	Australian coast
Builder	NSW State Dockyard, Newcastle, New South Wales
Laid down	1962
Launched	28th May 1962
Completed	1963
Maiden voyage	29th March 1963
In service	1963
Homeport	Fremantle
Identification	AHRV number: HV000208 IMO number: 5415169
Status	Preserved as a museum ship in Waverton, New South Wales
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 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.