The Fantome class survey motor boat is a class of eight small boats 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) and DMS Maritime. The four-man survey boats are designed to operate from the Leeuwin class survey vessels

Leeuwin class survey vessel

The Leeuwin class is a class of two hydrographic survey vessels in the Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Melville. Both ships were built by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland, and entered service in 2000....

, with three assigned to each ship, while the seventh and eighth were attached to the RAN Hydrographic School at HMAS Penguin

HMAS Penguin (naval base)

HMAS Penguin is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy located at Balmoral on the shore of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman, New South Wales...

. They are fitted with navigational and survey equipment and are unarmed.

Design and construction

Each Fantome class vessel displaces 7.48 tons, is 10.7 metres (35.1 ft) long, has a beam of 2.9 metres (9.5 ft), and a draught of 0.6 metres (2 ft). They are fitted with two Volvo Penta AQAD 41D/SP290 diesels, connected to two outdrives, which allow the vessels to reach 28 knots (15.2 m/s). The sensor suite consists of a JRC JMA-2141 navigation radar and an STN Atlas Elektronik Deso 22 echo sounder. Portable side-scan mapping sonars can be fitted as needed. Four personnel crew each vessel; one officer and three sailors. The Fantomes are unarmed.

All eight vessels were constructed by Pro Marine at Seaford, Victoria

Seaford, Victoria

Seaford is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Frankston...

. They entered service between October 1992 and July 1993.

Operations

The RAN's six Fantome class boats are carried on board its two Leeuwin class survey vessels

Leeuwin class survey vessel

The Leeuwin class is a class of two hydrographic survey vessels in the Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Leeuwin and HMAS Melville. Both ships were built by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland, and entered service in 2000....

. Each of these ships can carry three survey motor boats. The other two boats were originally operated by DMS Marine under contract to the RAN and are stationed at the Navy's Hydrographic School at HMAS Penguin

HMAS Penguin (naval base)

HMAS Penguin is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy located at Balmoral on the shore of Sydney Harbour in the suburb of Mosman, New South Wales...

in Sydney, but by 2010, these vessels were under direct RAN control. DMS Maritime maintains all eight boats.

Vessels

The eight boats are:

• SMB 1005 Fantome
• SMB 1006 Meda
• SMB 1007 Investigator/Condor
• SMB 1008 Duyfken
• SMB 1009 Tom Thumb
• SMB 1010 John Gowland
• SMB 1011 Geographe
• SMB 1012 Casuarina

Before 2008, Investigator was taken out of service. A replacement boat, SMB Condor, was rebuilt from Investigators hull.