 After the conclusion of her naval service, she was in the United States Bureau of Fisheries fleet as the research vessel USFS "Halcyon" from 1919 to 1927.After receiving an appropriation of US$45,000 from the United States Congress for the construction of a ship for use along the coast of Maine, the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries (BOF) awarded a contract for US$44,217 to the Townsend Marine Railway and Construction Company at Boothbay Harbor, Maine.Designed both to support the fish hatchery at the BOF's Boothbay Harbor station and to conduct oceanographic and fisheries science research, the ship, named USFS "Halcyon", was launched on 30 November 1916 and completed and accepted by the BOF on 3 May 1917.