HMAS Mavie was a 19-ton auxiliary

Auxiliaries

An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...

 patrol boat operated by 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) during World War II.

The wooden lugger Mavis was built at Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

 in 1903. It was 38 in 6 in (11.73 m) long, with a beam of 11 in 11 in (3.63 m).

On 12 December 1941, Mavis was seized from its Japanese owner, Jiro Muramatsu, as he was a citizen of a country at war with Australia. It was requisitioned by the RAN, and was renamed and commissioned for service at 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...

 as the channel patrol boat HMAS Mavie, on 31 December 1941.

Mavie was attacked by Japanese aircraft in the air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942, near the Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin Harbour. Mavie was sunk by a near miss, although the crew of four survived. Mavie was salvaged in 1959-60 when the Fujita Salvage Company salvaged the cargo ship Neptuna, which had also been sunk in the raid.

Following a reorganisation of the RAN battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....

s system, Mavies service and loss was retroactively recognised with the honour "Darwin 1942".