USFS Eider

USFS/US FWS Eider
USFS Eider
USFS Eider in 1920.
History
United States
NameMV Idaho
NamesakeIdaho
BuilderNilson and Kelez, SeattleWashington
Launched16 November 1913
Identification
FateSold to United States Bureau of Fisheries summer 1919
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries
NameUS FWS Eider
NamesakeEider
CostUS$26,000
AcquiredSummer 1919
Commissioned1919
HomeportUnalaska, Territory of Alaska
FateTransferred to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 30 June 1940
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
NameUS FWS Eider
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredFrom U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 30 June 1940
FateTransferred to United States Navy 1942
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Navy 1946
DecommissionedLate 1940s
FateSold to U.S. Geological Survey January 1949
United States Navy
NameUSS YP-198
AcquiredFrom Fish and Wildlife Service 1942
FateTransferred to U.S. Coast Guard 29 May 1942
AcquiredTransferred from U.S. Coast Guard 26 October 1945
Stricken20 March 1946
FateTransferred to Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Coast Guard
NameUSCGC YP-198
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredFrom U.S. Navy 29 May 1942
FateTransferred to U.S. Navy 26 October 1945
NotesOperated as harbor fireboat
United States Geological Survey
NameMV Eider
NamesakePrevious name retained
AcquiredFrom Fish and Wildlife Service January 1949
Out of serviceOctober 1954
FateSold 1955
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
NameMV Eider
NamesakePrevious name retained
Acquired1955
HomeportMarshall Islands
FateSank
General characteristics
(as civilian vessel)
TypeMotor schooner
Tonnage
Length88 ft (27 m)
Beam19 ft (5.8 m)
Draft9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 1913: 8 knots (15 km/h)
  • 1923: 8.75 knots (16 km/h) (average)
Range5,500 nautical miles (10,200 km)
Crew1919: 13
Armament1919: 1 x 1-pounder gun
General characteristics
(as U.S. Navy/U.S. Coast Guard vessel)
Type
Displacement152 tons
Length77 ft 3 in (23.55 m)
NotesSOURCE: Bruhn, p. 281.

USFS Eider was an American 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. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1940 to 1942 and again in the late 1940s. She ran a passenger-cargo service between 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 fisheries and marine mammals. 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 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.