The vessels were powered by a diesel-electric system driving two screws creating 2,900 shaft horsepower (2,200 kW).

[2][4] In 1962 the Department of Transport's Marine Service fleet was merged into the newly formed Canadian Coast Guard and Tupper was given the new prefix CCGS.

[1][4][7] The vessel changed owners a couple of times, never leaving Halifax Harbour, changing piers until 11 October 2008 when a large fire broke out aboard Caruso while she was moored, requiring the services of the Royal Canadian Navy's firefighting tugboat CFAV Firebird.

In 2011 the hulk was sold for scrap to be broken up in Marie Joseph, a small community in the Eastern Shore region of Nova Scotia.

In January 2021, the Canadian Coast Guard's Environmental Response branch was sent to Marie Joseph to deal with the hulk and the remains of the former tugboat Craig Trans which lay beside it.