HMAS Boonaroo

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Career (Australia)	Royal Australian Navy

Builder:	Mort’s Dock and Engineering Co Ltd, Sydney
Launched:	1953
Commissioned:	1 Mar 1967
Decommissioned:	8 May 1967
Fate:	Returned to civilian service
General characteristics
Type:	Auxiliary vessel
Length:	391 feet (119.18 m) o/a
Beam:	53 feet (16.15 m)
Draught:	21 feet (6.40 m)
Propulsion:	2 Doxford diesel developing engines 4,250 hp
Speed:	12 knots (22.2 km/h)
Notes:	First ship to commission into the RAN under the Australian White Ensign

HMAS Boonaroo was an Australian National Lines cargo vessel, chartered by the Department of Shipping and Transport in 1966 to carry supplies to Australian forces operating in Vietnam.

After completing an initial voyage as the MV Boonaroo, the ship returned to Australia on July 8 1966. The next voyage was scheduled for early 1967, carrying further war materiel for the Royal Australian Air Force. When the Seamen's Union refused to crew the vessel, it was decided to commission Boonaroo into the navy with an RAN crew. Subsequently, the ship was commissioned into the navy on March 1 1967, and left port as HMAS Boonaroo on March 3 1967 under the command of Commander P.R. Burnett. Boonaroo was the first vessel in the RAN to commission under the Australian White Ensign.

On completion of this voyage, the ship was returned to her owners in Sydney, and was decommissioned on May 8 1967.