and Chronometer Depot in Sydney in 1897. The depot was to supplement the activities of Royal Navy survey ships in Australian waters. In 1913, the depot was taken over by the Australian government and was renamed the RAN Hydrographic Depot. Despite this, survey activities were performed by Royal Navy vessels until World War I, when surveying operations were concentrated in European waters. After the war, the Admiralty decided that with higher priorities in Europe, it would provide at most a single vessel for survey operations around Australia, and the Australian government was forced to create its own hydrographic surveying service. After deliberation on whether the new hydrographic service would be military or civilian operated, the government decided that surveying would be a naval responsibility, with the RAN Hydrographic Service established on 1 October 1920. A single sloop, , was commissioned into RAN service to supplement the Royal Navy survey vessel, and was later fitted with a Fairey IIID seaplane to assist with surveys of the Great Barrier Reef. Geranium was replaced by , but the new survey ship was placed in reserve once the Great Barrier Reef survey was completed in 1929. By this point, no other survey operations (military or civilian) were being performed in Australian waters. Surveying operations did not resume in the region until World War II, when it became evident that Age of Sail-era charts of the South West Pacific desperately needed updating. Requisitioned auxiliary ships, later supplemented by several s modified into survey vessels, were used to chart the waters around the East Indies and New Guinea, with the RAN designated as the charting authority responsible for supporting Allied operations in the South West Pacific Area. As well as updating navigational charts, RAN survey ships were also used to inspect and clear sites for amphibious landings. By the end of the war, sixteen vessels were attached to the Hydrographic Service, including the frigate and five Bathurst-class corvettes. In 1946, the Australian Cabinet decided that the RAN would remain in control of all hydrographic operations in both Australian waters and areas of Australian interest. RAN warships were used to survey waters around Australia as part of a national hydrographic survey. In 1947, the Antarctic exploration ship was commissioned, but only one voyage was completed, and RAN hydrographic operations in the Antarctic were stopped in 1948. In 1963, a resource and export boom required the Hydrographic Service