page_title: Examination vessel
section_title: Vessels which served as examination vessels
hierarchical_section_title: Examination vessel / Vessels which served as examination vessels
caption_attribution_description: English: The Canadian government ship GCS Malaspina, which served with the Royal Canadian Navy during the First and Second World Wars as HMCS Malaspina.
context_page_description: An examination vessel is a vessel used to inspect ships and boats entering a port during wartime.
  An examination vessel would typically be responsible for examining and verifying all merchant ships and small craft entering or departing a port. They would normally be equipped with one or more machine guns and in addition were often supported by one or more shore gun batteries, sometimes called examination batteries. In the case of United States Army Coast Artillery Corps defenses in World War II, a Harbor Entrance Control Post on shore would interrogate a vessel, and a nearby examination battery would be ready to respond if required. Duties might include boarding ships, examining papers to establish identity and belligerent status, and inspecting cargoes for legitimacy.
  As an example of how an examination service might operate, here is an account of the procedure that operated in 1917 in Sydney Harbour:
  "At midnight on 7 August all traffic entering and leaving the harbour was placed under strict naval control with the inauguration of an examination service under Captain Pasco's port defense organisation, to guard against surprise attack by disguised armed merchant ship raiders.
context_section_description: Australia
  Adele (1906)
  HMAS Kookaburra
  HMQS Otter
  HMAS Southern Cross
  Canada
  HMCS Armentières
  HMCS Cougar (Z15)
  HMCS Malaspina
  New Zealand
  Awanui
  Hauiti
  Ikatere
  Janie Seddon
  Lyttelton
  Stina
  Tuirangi
  Wairangi
  South Africa
  HMSAS Clara
  HMSAS Stork
  HMSAS William Messina
  United States
  LV-79/WAL-506
  LV-85/WAL-510
   LV-87/WAL-512
  LV-112/WAL-534
  LV-113/WAL-535
  LV-115/WAL-537
caption: HMCS Malaspina
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