- HMAS Banks
HMAS "Banks" (GPV901/Y266/G244/244) was a General Purpose Vessel of the
Royal Australian Navy , serving in a range of capacities from 1960 until 1995. She was named in honour of Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist who accompanied Captain Cook on his voyage of discovery toAustralia in 1770."Banks" was laid down by Walkers Ltd of
Maryborough, Queensland in 1959 and launched on 15 December 1959 of that year by Mrs. W H Harrington, wife of the Second Naval Member of the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board. She commissioned into the RAN on 16 February 1960 with pennant number GPV901. HMAS "Banks" wore the pennant numbers GPV901, Y266, G244, and finally 244 during her career [Straczek, John. "The Royal Australian Navy: Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments", Navy Public Affairs, Sydney, 1996. ISBN 1-876-04378-4]Operational history
On completion, HMAS "Banks" was fitted out for fishery surveillance duties in northern Australian waters. In April 1961, while operating in the Darwin area, she carried out a hydrographic survey of the
Adelaide River area, becoming the first seagoing ship in 50 years to make the Adelaide River passage. [Bastock, John. "Australia’s Ships of War", Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1975. ISBN 0-207-12927-4]From 1963 to 1966, "Banks" provided training for members of the Papua New Guinea Division, based at
Manus Island . During this period, "Banks" was manned by a mixed Australia-PNG crew.In 1966, "Banks" returned to Sydney for a refit, before being handed over to the Royal Australian Navy reserve on 7 July, 1967, for use as a navigation and seamanship training vessel attached to HMAS "Encounter", the Navy base in
Port Adelaide South Australia ."Banks" decommissioned on 17 December 1982. She was allocated to HMAS "Creswell" at
Jervis Bay , NSW as a General Purpose Vessel, and was used chiefly for navigational training. In 1985, she was transferred to HMAS "Waterhen" inSydney , where she continued to be used for navigation training.In 1995, "Banks" left Sydney to undergo a major refit at
Port Macquarie , however the refit was terminated on 1 September 1995, following a massive fire onboard. "Banks" was sold shortly after to the present owners (Pleasure Cruises Australasia of Ulladulla, NSW), who have converted it into a charter vessel, MV "Banks". [cite web|url=http://www.mvbanks.com|title=MV Banks website (Retrieved 9/1/06)]References
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