USFS Eider

{{short description|Ship of the United States Bureau of Fisheries}}

{{Infobox ship |infobox_caption=USFS/US FWS ''Eider'' |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=MV Eider in 1920.JPG |image_caption=USFS ''Eider'' in 1920. }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=United States |flag={{shipboxflag|United States|1912}} |name=MV ''Idaho'' |namesake=[[Idaho]] |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder=[[Nilson and Kelez]], [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]] |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched=16 November 1913 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |commissioned= |decommissioned= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification=*WTDD<ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3330094 U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection, ''Merchant Vessels of the United States (Including Yachts and Government Vessels), Year Ended June 30, 1933'', Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1932, pp. 151, 1131.]</ref> *[[File:ICS Whiskey.svg|22px]] [[File:ICS Tango.svg|22px]] [[File:ICS Delta.svg|22px]] [[File:ICS Delta.svg|22px]] |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Sold to [[United States Bureau of Fisheries]] summer 1919 |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=U.S. Bureau of Fisheries |flag={{USN flag|1912}} [[File:Flag of the United States Bureau of Fisheries.svg|55px]] |name=US FWS ''Eider'' |namesake=[[Eider]] |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost=US$26,000 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=Summer 1919 |commissioned=1919 |decommissioned= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport=[[Unalaska, Alaska|Unalaska]], [[Territory of Alaska]] |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Transferred to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 30 June 1940 |notes= |badge= }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service |flag={{USN flag|1912}} [[File:Flag of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.svg|55px]] |name=US FWS ''Eider'' |namesake=Previous name retained |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=From U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 30 June 1940 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Transferred to [[United States Navy]] 1942 |notes= |badge= }}

|section5={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=yes |acquired=Transferred from U.S. Navy 1946 |commissioned= |decommissioned=Late 1940s |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Sold to [[United States Geological Survey|U.S. Geological Survey]] January 1949 |notes= |badge= }}

|section6={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=United States Navy |flag={{USN flag|1912}} |name=USS ''YP-198'' |namesake= |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=From Fish and Wildlife Service 1942 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Transferred to [[United States Coast Guard|U.S. Coast Guard]] 29 May 1942 |notes= |badge= }}

|section7={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=yes |acquired=Transferred from U.S. Coast Guard 26 October 1945 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck=20 March 1946 |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Transferred to Fish and Wildlife Service |notes= |badge= }}

|section8={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=United States Coast Guard |flag=[[File:Ensign of the United States Coast Guard (1915–1953).png|55px]] |name=USCGC ''YP-198'' |namesake=Previous name retained |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=From U.S. Navy 29 May 1942 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Transferred to U.S. Navy 26 October 1945 |notes=Operated as harbor [[fireboat]] |badge= }}

|section9={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=United States Geological Survey |flag={{USN flag|1912}} [[File:Flag of the United States Geological Survey.png|55px]] |name=MV ''Eider'' |namesake=Previous name retained |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=From Fish and Wildlife Service January 1949 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service=October 1954 |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport= |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Sold 1955 |notes= |badge= }}

|section10={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands |flag=[[File:Flag of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.svg|55px]] |name=MV ''Eider'' |namesake=Previous name retained |owner= |operator= |registry= |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= |original_cost= |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired=1955 |commissioned= |decommissioned= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport=[[Marshall Islands]] |identification= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Sank |notes= |badge= }}

|section11={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption=<br>(as civilian vessel) |class= |type=[[Motor vessel|Motor]] [[schooner]] |tonnage=*76 [[gross register ton]]s *52 [[net ton]]s |displacement= |length={{convert|88|ft|m|abbr=on}} |beam={{convert|19|ft|m|abbr=on}} |height= |draught= |draft={{convert|9|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}} |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion=*1913: {{convert|110|hp|adj=on|0}} 3-[[Cylinder (engine)|cylinder]] [[Frisco Standard]] [[gasoline engine]] *1923: {{convert|140|hp|adj=on|0}} 6-cylinder [[Atlas-Imperial]] [[diesel engine]] *Added 1925: {{convert|12|hp|adj=on}} [[Cummins]] auxiliary diesel engine *1951: {{convert|500|hp|adj=on|0}} [[General Motors]] diesel engine |speed=*1913: {{convert|8|kn|km/h|0}} *1923: {{convert|8.75|kn|km/h|0}} (average) |range={{convert|5,500|nmi|km}} |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement= |crew=1919: 13 |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament=1919: 1 x [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom#United States|1-pounder gun]] |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }}

|section12={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption=<br>(as U.S. Navy/U.S. Coast Guard vessel) |class= |type=*[[Yard patrol boat]] *Harbor [[fireboat]] |tonnage= |displacement=152 [[Displacement ton|tons]] |length={{convert|77|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} |beam= |height= |draught= |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion= |speed= |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement= |crew= |time_to_activate= |sensors= |EW= |armament= |armour= |armor= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes=<small>SOURCE: Bruhn, p. 281.</small> }} }} '''USFS ''Eider''''' was an American [[Motor vessel|motor]] [[schooner]] in commission in the fleet of the [[United States Bureau of Fisheries]] from 1919 to 1940 and, as '''US FWS ''Eider''''', in the fleet of the U.S. [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|Fish and Wildlife Service]] from 1940 to 1942 and again in the late 1940s. She ran a passenger-cargo service between [[Unalaska, Alaska|Unalaska]] and the [[Pribilof Islands]], and also carried passengers, supplies, and provisions to destinations on the mainland of the [[Territory of Alaska]] and in the [[Aleutian Islands]]. She occasionally supported research activities in Alaskan waters and the North [[Pacific Ocean]], and she conducted patrols to protect Alaskan [[Fishery|fisheries]] and [[marine mammal]]s. In 1924, she provided logistical support to the [[first aerial circumnavigation]] of the world.

Prior to her acquisition by the Bureau of Fisheries, the ship was the [[Commercial fishing|commercial]] [[fishing vessel]] '''MV ''Idaho'''''. From 1942 to 1945, the ship served in the [[United States Coast Guard]] as the harbor [[fireboat]] '''''YP-198''''' during [[World War II]]. After the end of her Fish and Wildlife Service career, she served in the [[United States Geological Survey]] from 1949 to 1954, and from 1955 she operated in the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]].

== Construction and commissioning==

On 21 April 1910, the [[United States Congress]] assigned the responsibility for the management and harvest of [[northern fur seal]]s, [[fox]]es, and other [[fur]]-bearing animals in the [[Pribilof Islands]] in the [[Bering Sea]], as well as for the care, education, and welfare of the [[Aleut people|Aleut]] communities in the islands, to the [[United States Bureau of Fisheries]] (BOF).<ref name=pribiloftenders>[https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/History/vessels/pribilof_tenders.htm AFSC Historical Corner: The Pribilof Islands Tender Vessels Retrieved September 4, 2018]</ref> Since 1917, the BOF had operated a "[[Pribilof tender]],"<ref name=pribiloftenders/> a dedicated supply vessel used to transport passengers and cargo to and from the Pribilof Islands.<ref name=pribiloftenders/>

On 1 July 1918, the U.S. Congress appropriated US$20,000 to the BOF for the construction or purchase of a wooden-[[Hull (watercraft)|hulled]] [[motor vessel]] capable of operating in the rough waters of the Bering Sea to replace its existing Pribilof tender,<ref name=mveider>[https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/History/vessels/boats/eider.htm afsc.noaa.gov AFSC Historical Corner: ''Eider'', Pribilof Tender and Patrol Vessel Retrieved September 7, 2018]</ref> the [[Steamship|steamer]] [[SS Roosevelt (1905)|USFS ''Roosevelt'']].<ref name=ssroosevelt1906>[https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/History/vessels/boats/roosevelt.htm afsc.noaa.gov AFSC Historical Corner: ''Roosevelt'', Bureau's First Pribilof Tender Retrieved September 8, 2018]</ref> The [[naval architecture]] firm of Lee and Brinton of [[Seattle]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], designed the ship, to be known as USFS ''Tern'',<ref name=mveider/> following the BOF's custom of naming its vessels assigned to operate in the waters of the [[Territory of Alaska]] after [[seabird]]s common in the region.<ref name=mveider/> ''Tern'' was to be {{convert|70|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and have a heavy-duty {{convert|80|hp|0|adj=on}} engine, a cruising range of over {{convert|2,000|nmi|abbr=off|lk=in|sp=us}}, a cargo capacity of 30 tons, and sleeping accommodations for 16 people.<ref name=mveider/> The BOF advertised in Seattle for bids for the construction of ''Tern'' in 1918, but when the bidding period closed on 3 December 1918, the lowest bid was US$27,500, which was US$7,500 more than the Congressional appropriation.<ref name=mveider/> The BOF advertised for bids in Seattle again, but when the bidding closed the second time on 8 January 1919, the lowest bid, $26,000, still was too high.<ref name=mveider/>

The need to replace ''Roosevelt'' became more urgent on 17 January 1919, when the BOF assessed her as in need of major repairs,<ref name=ssroosevelt1906/> and the [[Steamboat Inspection Service]] later confirmed it;<ref name=ssroosevelt1906/> on 21 April 1919, an inspection at [[Bremerton, Washington|Bremerton]], Washington, revealed extensive [[dry rot]] requiring an estimated US$186,000 in repairs, which the BOF deemed prohibitive.<ref name=ssroosevelt1906/> The BOF advertised in Seattle for bids for the construction of ''Tern'' for a third time, only to find that when bidding closed on 12 May 1919, the lowest bid, US$28,800, again exceeded the Congressional appropriation.<ref name=mveider/> ''Roosevelt'' was condemned on 4 June 1919.<ref name=ssroosevelt1906/><ref name=mveider/> On 11 July 1919, the U.S. Congress passed a deficiency act that appropriated an additional US$7,500 for her replacement.<ref name=mveider/> The BOF scrapped plans to build ''Tern'', and instead purchased the {{convert|88|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us|adj=on}} motor [[schooner]] '''''Idaho''''' in the summer of 1919 for US$26,000.

[[Nilson and Kelez]] had constructed ''Idaho'' in Seattle and [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] her on 16 November 1913.<ref name=mveider/> Employed as a [[Commercial fishing|commercial]] deep-water [[Pacific halibut]] [[fishing vessel]], ''Idaho'' was well known in the area and regarded as seaworthy and capable of operating in the Bering Sea during voyages to the Pribilofs.<ref name=mveider/> The BOF renamed her '''USFS ''Eider'''''<ref name=mveider/> and converted her for fisheries use by transferring most of ''Roosevelt''′s movable equipment to her<ref name=mveider/><ref name=ssroosevelt1906/> before selling ''Roosevelt'' on 15 July 1919<ref name=ssroosevelt1906/> and adding additional [[Cabin (ship)|cabin]] space and a communications room.<ref name=mveider/> The [[United States Navy]] installed a modern 0.5-kilowatt wireless system in her communications room and a [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom#United States|1-pounder gun]] on her deck so that could provide armed protection of [[fur seal]] [[Rookery|rookeries]].<ref name=mveider/>

==Service history== ===Bureau of Fisheries===

Carrying several [[United States Government]] employees as passengers and a cargo of general supplies, [[United States Mail]], and [[coal]],<ref name=mveider/> and with a crew of 13 – her [[Sea captain|master]], [[Chief mate|first officer]], [[Second mate|second officer]], [[Engineering officer (ship)|engineer]], assistant engineer, [[radio operator]], and [[mess]] attendant and six [[Sailor|seamen]]<ref name=mveider/> – ''Eider'' departed Seattle on 26 October 1919 for her first voyage to the Pribilof Islands.<ref name=mveider/> The Pribilofs lacked mooring facilities for her or any harbors, and so the BOF stationed her at [[Unalaska, Alaska|Unalaska]] on [[Unalaska Island]] in the [[Aleutian Islands]] – at {{convert|250|nmi|abbr=off|sp=us}} away, the closest port to the Pribilofs.<ref name=mveider/> In addition to her voyages between Seattle, Unalaska, and the Pribilofs, ''Eider'' also transported passengers and supplies between the two main islands in the Pribilofs – [[Saint Paul Island (Alaska)|Saint Paul Island]] and [[St. George Island (Alaska)|St. George Island]] – and to and between other communities on islands in the Aleutians and the Bering Sea.<ref name=mveider/>

''Eider'' made one of her voyages to the Pribilofs in January 1920, an impressive feat in an era when few vessels attempted to operate in the Bering Sea during the hazardous winter months.<ref name=mveider/> In April 1920, she transported 1,312 [[sealskin]]s and 938 [[fox]] skins from the Pribilofs to Unalaska, where they were loaded aboard the commercial steamer SS ''Victoria'' for transportation to Seattle.<ref name=mveider/> Outbreaks of [[smallpox]] forced health authorities to place her in [[quarantine]] at Unalaska on 18 October 1920 and again on 10 November 1920,<ref name=mveider/> but by then ''Eider'' had made 11 round trips between Unalaska and the Pribilof Islands and two voyages to [[King Cove, Alaska|King Cove]] on the southwestern tip of the [[Alaska Peninsula]] and had logged nearly {{convert|8,000|nmi|abbr=off|sp=us}}.<ref name=mveider/> On 28 November 1920, she left Unalaska to undergo repairs at [[Kodiak, Alaska|Kodiak]] on [[Kodiak Island]], and during her return voyage to Unalaska at the end of 1920 received word that the [[mail boat]] ''Pulitzer'' was missing near [[Chignik, Alaska|Chignik]], Alaska;<ref name=mveider/> after searching for ''Pulitzer'' and finding her disabled and in distress, ''Eider'' took her crew, passengers, and mail aboard and transported them southwestward to [[Unga, Alaska|Unga]] and Unalaska.<ref name=mveider/>

For several weeks in the autumn of 1921, ''Eider'' underwent a major overhaul at Kodiak in which her hull was sheathed with [[ironbark]], her deck railings were modified, the floor of her [[forecastle]] was raised, her [[rudder]] was [[Riveting|reriveted]], her main engine was overhauled, a new [[bilge pump]] was installed, and her [[Cabin (ship)|cabin]]s, [[companionway]], [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkhead]]s, and [[Head (watercraft)|heads]] received additions and modifications and new [[locker]]s were installed.<ref name=mveider/> In December 1922, ''Eider'' came to the assistance of the vessel ''Lister'', which had run ashore at [[Cape Makushin]] on Unalaska Island, {{convert|40|mi|abbr=off}} from Unalaska.<ref name=mveider/> [[File:MV Eider icy.JPG|thumb|left|300px|''Eider'' arrives in port covered with ice.]] On 24 March 1923, ''Eider'' arrived in Seattle to have her original [[gasoline engine]] replaced with a {{convert|140|hp|0|adj=on}}, 6-cylinder [[Atlas-Imperial]] solid-injection, reverse-gear [[diesel engine]].<ref name=mveider/> Her new engine was more efficient and proved to be very reliable in the coming years, and with it ''Eider'' averaged {{convert|8.75|kn|1}} during the summer of 1923, an improvement over the {{convert|8|kn}} she could make with her old engine.<ref name=mveider/> Beginning in 1923, BOF employees embarked on ''Eider'' for several weeks each summer to inspect the [[salmon]] [[Fishery|fisheries]] at various [[Cannery|canneries]] and [[spawning]] streams; BOF employees who made these deployments aboard her included Dr. [[Charles Henry Gilbert|Charles H. Gilbert]], [[Willis H. Rich]], and [[Dennis Winn (fisheries scientist)|Dennis Winn]].<ref name=mveider/> Following a 1923 [[Executive Order]], ''Eider'' began guarding the [[sea otter]]s and migratory fur seal herds in the [[Territory of Alaska]].<ref name=mveider/> During the winter of 1923–1924, she found and assisted the missing vessel ''Viking''.<ref name=mveider/>

In 1924, ''Eider'' supported the [[first aerial circumnavigation]] of the world, achieved by [[United States Army Air Service]] aviators in four [[Douglas World Cruiser]] airplanes who took off from the [[naval air station]] at [[Sand Point, Seattle|Sand Point]] in Seattle on 6 April 1924 and proceeded westward.<ref name=mveider/> The [[Soviet Union]] had prohibited the aircraft from landing on its soil, necessitating stops in the Territory of Alaska and Bering Sea area as the aircraft bypassed Soviet territory.<ref name=mveider/> ''Eider'' transported the advance personnel, supplies, [[gasoline]], and [[lubricating oil]] needed to support the early stages of the trip to several locations in Alaska and the Bering Sea and provided the pilots with accommodations, meals, [[Meteorology|meteorological]] information, and moorings for the planes.<ref name=mveider/> Ultimately, two of the original airplanes completed the trip successfully by arriving at Seattle on 28 September 1924, 175 days after departing Naval Air Station Sand Point.<ref name=mveider/>

By the mid-1920s, ''Eider''′s patrol duties had expanded to include the protection of salmon in [[Southwest Alaska]].<ref name=mveider/> In 1925, a {{convert|12|hp|adj=on}} [[Cummins]] auxiliary diesel engine was installed aboard her.<ref name=mveider/> That year, she suffered hull damage when she struck a rock in [[Wrangell Narrows]] between [[Mitkof Island]] and [[Kupreanof Island]] in the [[Alexander Archipelago]] in [[Southeast Alaska]].<ref name=mveider/>

In 1929, ''Eider''′s patrol duties grew again to include protection of the Pacific halibut in the northern [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name=mveider/> She aided with the annual [[Pinniped|seal]] census in July 1929.<ref name=mveider/> In September 1929, she lost her rudder and [[skeg]] (an extension of her [[keel]] from her [[stern]]) when she struck a rocky reef off St. George Island in the Pribilofs during a storm in [[fog]], and she had to be towed to [[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]], Alaska, for repairs.<ref name=mveider/>

In performing her Pribilof tender duties and other assignments between 1920 and 1929, ''Eider'' logged as many as {{convert|17,000|nmi|abbr=off|sp=us}} a year.<ref name=mveider/> Exposure to harsh weather and ice had taken a toll on her, and by the late 1920s she required overhauls and major repairs at an ever-increasing rate.<ref name=mveider/> In 1928, the BOF suggested the construction of new Pribilof tender, larger and more powerful than ''Eider'', for voyages in the Bering Sea,<ref name=mveider/> This ship, {{ship|USFS|Penguin||6}}, entered service in May 1930.<ref>[https://www.afsc.noaa.gov/History/vessels/boats/penguin.htm afsc.noaa.gov AFSC Historical Corner: ''Penguin'', Pribilof Tender for 20 Years (1930-50) Retrieved September 7, 2018]</ref> With ''Penguin'' [[Ship commissioning|in commission]] and assuming duties as the BOF′s Pribilof tender, the BOF reassigned ''Eider'' to annual [[fisheries patrol]] duty in the more protected waters around Kodiak,<ref name=mveider/> although she also continued to transport passengers and supplies to various settlements and BOF stations in the Territory of Alaska.<ref name=mveider/>

In the spring of 1934, ''Eider'' began patrol work to protect fur seal herds migrating northward along the coast of Washington near [[Neah Bay]]. Between February and April 1936, she took part in a [[Works Progress Administration]] stream improvement project in the Territory of Alaska′s Juneau and [[Wrangell, Alaska|Wrangell]] districts. In 1938, [[biologist]]s embarked on ''Eider'' conducted a tagging experiment to measure the travel times of fish.<ref name=mveider/>

===Fish and Wildlife Service (1940–1942)=== In 1939, the Bureau of Fisheries was transferred from the [[United States Department of Commerce]] to the [[United States Department of the Interior]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/timeline/1930.html | title = Fisheries Historical Timeline: Historical Highlights 1930's | work = NOAA Fisheries Service: Northeast Fisheries Science Center | publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) | date = June 16, 2011 | access-date = September 11, 2017}}</ref> and on 30 June 1940, it merged with the Interior Department's Division of Biological Survey to form the new [[United States Fish and Wildlife Service|Fish and Wildlife Service]] (FWS) as an element of the Interior Department.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/history/timeline/1940.html | title = Fisheries Historical Timeline: Historical Highlights 1940's | work = NOAA Fisheries Service: Northeast Fisheries Science Center | publisher = [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] (NOAA) | date = June 16, 2011 | access-date = September 11, 2017}}</ref> Via this reorganization, ''Eider'' became part of the fleet of the new FWS as '''US FWS ''Eider''''' in 1940.<ref name=mveider/> She continued her operations in Alaskan waters.<ref name=mveider/>

On 24 October 1940, ''Eider'' struck a reef off [[Prince Rupert, British Columbia|Prince Rupert]], [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]].<ref name=mveider/> Her hull sustained {{convert|14|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} of damage.<ref name=mveider/>

===United States Navy and United States Coast Guard=== The [[United States]] entered [[World War II]] on 7 December 1941, and in 1942 the U.S. Navy requisitioned ''Eider'' for war service, designated her as a [[yard patrol boat]], and renamed her '''USS ''YP-198'''''.<ref name=mveider/><ref name=navsourceyp198>[http://www.navsource.net/archives/14/31198.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive YP-198 Retrieved September 9, 2018]</ref> As of 15 May 1942, ''YP-198'' was assigned to the [[Thirteenth Naval District]] Inshore Patrol, based at the Northwestern Sector Section Base at Seattle.<ref>Bruhn, p. 74.</ref> On 29 May 1942, the Navy transferred ''YP-198'' to the [[United States Coast Guard]],<ref name=mveider/> which converted her into a harbor [[fireboat]].<ref name=mveider/>

After the conclusion of the war, the Coast Guard transferred ''YP-198'' back to the Navy on 26 October 1945.<ref name=mveider/> The Navy, in turn, struck her from the [[Naval Register]] on 20 March 1946<ref name=navsourceyp198/> and transferred her back to the Fish and Wildlife Service.<ref name=mveider/>

===Fish and Wildlife Service (1946–1949)=== Once again known as US FWS ''Eider'', the vessel returned to service in the Fish and Wildlife Service fleet. In October 1946, she transported a search party to [[Shuyak Island]] n the northern part of the [[Kodiak Archipelago]] in an unsuccessful attempt to locate a missing U.S. Navy [[enlisted man]].<ref name=mveider/> At some point later in the 1940s, the FWS declared ''Eider'' to be surplus property.<ref name=mveider/>

===United States Geological Survey=== In January 1949 a [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS) geologist, G. D. Robinson, acquired ''Eider'' for use in studying [[volcano]]s and [[geology]] in and around the Aleutian Islands.<ref name=mveider/> ''Eider'' provided USGS geologists conducting this research with their first dedicated transportation to and from the Aleutians since 1946.<ref name=mveider/> In 1951, her engine was replaced with a {{convert|500|hp|0|adj=on}} [[General Motors]] diesel engine.<ref name=mveider/> She supported USGS research in the Aleutians until October 1954, when the USGS declared her to be surplus property.<ref name=mveider/>

===Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands=== In 1955, the [[Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands]] acquired ''Eider'' for use in providing support for medical and dental personnel in the [[Marshall Islands]].<ref name=mveider/> At some point during this service, she became disabled and sank while under tow for repairs.<ref name=mveider/>

== References == ===Footnotes=== {{Reflist}}

===Bibliography=== *Bruhn, David D. ''Battle Stars for the "Cactus Navy": America's Fishing Vessels and Yachts in World War II''. Berwyn Heights, Maryland: Heritage Books 2014. {{ISBN|978-0-7884-5573-5}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eider}} [[Category:Fishery protection vessels]] [[Category:Ships of the United States Bureau of Fisheries]] [[Category:Ships of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service]] [[Category:Cargo ships of the United States]] [[Category:Passenger ships of the United States]] [[Category:Fireboats of the United States]] [[Category:Patrol boats of the United States Navy]] [[Category:Ships of the United States Coast Guard]] [[Category:Ships built in Seattle]] [[Category:1913 ships]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1925]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1929]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1940]] [[Category:Maritime accidents involving fog]] [[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]