Douglas Cairns was a marine engineer. He died when the launch "Boyne" sank after colliding with the dredge "Sir Thomas Hiley" in Moreton Bay on 2 March 1973. At that time he was Officer-in-Charge of Installation and Maintenance of Automatic Lights in the Department of Harbours and Marine. Prior to his service with the Brisbane Navigation Aids Section of the Department, he had been Engineer-in-Charge of the "Coral Sea" which provided a pilot transfer service for Urangan and Maryborough and serviced navigation aids in Sandy Strait and the Mary River. A Harbours and Marines Navigation Aids Service Vessel commissioned on 20 December 1985 was named in his honour.
From the description of OM89-16 Doug Cairns Diary, 1948. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 755718348
