team of scientists from the University of Washington, Dartmouth, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. Her oceanographic studies took her across the Atlantic to Germany in 1965. In 1966 she sailed to the coast of Brazil to take water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content readings. On 23 December 1968 Evergreen suffered a major fire in her engine room while tied to the pier at the Coast Guard's Boston base. Two of her crew were overcome by the smoke. The fire was put out in two hours, but damage was extensive. She was repaired at the Coast Guard Yard at Curtis Bay, Maryland and was back at sea by April 1970. In 1972, Evergreen underwent a $2 million renovation at the Coast Guard Yard. New fresh water and sewage systems were installed. A bow thruster was added to increase her maneuverability. Crew quarters were renovated and modernized. The deckhouse was expanded and new laboratories were added. In March 1973 Evergreen sailed to her new homeport, New London, Connecticut. She left almost immediately for her regular ice patrol in the North Atlantic. Medium endurance cutter (19821990) By 1982 aircraft and satellites had grown in their capacity to monitor ice in the shipping lanes, leading to less reliance on ship-based data. Also, in 1970 the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration was established, and it too had grown in its capabilities. Amidst Reagan-administration budget cuts, the Coast Guard's oceanographic research program was ended. Evergreen was converted to a Medium-Endurance Cutter, and re-designated WMEC-295. For the rest of her career she would focus on law enforcement and fisheries management missions. She got right to work in her new role, seizing an Italian vessel off the coast of New Jersey fishing illegally for squid in September 1982. On 1 May 1983 she boarded a vessel 35 miles off Montauk and discovered 26 tons of marijuana. When Evergreen brought the boat back to New London, it became the largest drug seizure in Connecticut history to that time. The sailboat she seized in 1984 had 4 tons of marijuana in her cargo. Evergreen caught another sailboat smuggling 700 pounds of cocaine in Florida waters in 1990. The Coast Guard considered decommissioning Evergreen when the oceanography program she supported ended in 1982, but the ship was retained as a medium-endurance cutter. Her retirement was then linked to the construction of her replacement in the medium-endurance cutter fleet, USCGC Tahoma. Evergreen