The ship was 61.40 m long and 15.30 m wide, had a draft of 5.90 / 6.30 m and a water displacement of 2090 t (standard) and 2913 t (fully equipped).

Two standing triple expansion steam engines with a total of 3200 psi gave a top speed of 12.5 knots over two screws.

The Eisvogel served in the Baltic Sea as an icebreaker, tugboat, escort boat and most recently in 1945 during the evacuation of German refugees from East Prussia and Pomerania.

At the end of the war, the ship was sunk by its crew after its last arrival with refugees in Wismar.

There it rusted along with numerous other decommissioned units until it came to the ship cemetery in Truda Bay.