Fantome-class survey motor boat

The Fantome class is a class of eight small survey motor boats operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and DMS Maritime. The four-man boats are designed to operate from the Leeuwin class survey vessels, with three assigned to each ship, while the seventh and eighth were attached to the RAN Hydrographic School at HMAS Penguin. 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 m long, has a beam of 2.9 m, and a draught of 0.6 m. They are fitted with two Volvo Penta AQAD 41D/SP290 diesels, connected to two outdrives, which allow the vessels to reach 28 kn. 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. They entered service between October 1992 and July 1993.

The Fantome design was used as the basis for the Antarctic survey launch ASV Wyatt Earp.

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