HMAS Banks (GPV901/Y266/G244/244) was a General Purpose Vessel of the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN), serving in a range of capacities from 1960 until 1995. She was named in honour of Sir Joseph Banks

Joseph Banks

Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...

, the botanist aboard HM Bark Endeavour

HM Bark Endeavour

HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....

 during the discovery of the eastern coast of Australia in 1770.

Construction

Banks was laid down by Walkers Ltd of Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...

 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

Australian Commonwealth Naval Board

The Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was the governing authority over the Royal Australian Navy from its inception and through World Wars I and II. The board was established on 1 March 1911 and consisted of civilian members of the Australian government as well as naval flag officers....

. She commissioned into the RAN on 16 February 1960 with pennant number GPV901.

Banks wore the pennant numbers GPV901, Y266, G244, and finally 244 during her career.

Operational history

On completion, Banks was fitted out for fishery surveillance duties in northern Australian waters. In April 1961, while operating in the Darwin

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

 area, she carried out a hydrographic survey of the Adelaide River

Adelaide River

Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. It starts in Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, being crossed by both the Stuart Highway and the Arnhem Highway...

 area, becoming the first seagoing ship in 50 years to make the Adelaide River passage.

From 1963 to 1966, Banks provided training for members of the Papua New Guinea Division, based at Manus Island

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

. 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

Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide is a suburb of Adelaide lying about 14 kilometres northwest of the City of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Port Adelaide Enfield and is the main port for the city of Adelaide...

, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

.

Banks decommissioned on 17 December 1982. She was allocated to HMAS Creswell

HMAS Creswell

HMAS Creswell is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy, a part of the Australian Defence Force, and consists of the Royal Australian Naval College , The RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range and an administrative support...

 at Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay is a large bay bounded by the state of New South Wales, the Jervis Bay Territory, and a detached enclave of the Australian Capital Territory. HMAS Creswell is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch in the Jervis Bay Territory.-History:...

, New South Wales as a General Purpose Vessel, and was used chiefly for navigational training. In 1985, she was transferred to HMAS Waterhen

HMAS Waterhen (naval base)

HMAS Waterhen is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy , located in Waverton, Sydney. Constructed on the site of a quarry used to expand Garden Island in the 1930s, the location was used during World War II as a boom net maintenance and storage area. In 1962, the area was commissioned...

 in Sydney, 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 after a fire onboard. Banks was sold shortly after to the present owners (Pleasure Cruises Australasia of Ulladulla, New South Wales

Ulladulla, New South Wales

Ulladulla is a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia in the City of Shoalhaven local government area. It is on the Princes Highway, about half way between the larger towns of Batemans Bay to the south and Nowra to the north and approximately 179 km south of Sydney...

), who have converted her into a charter vessel, MV Banks.