Prior to her NOAA career, she was in commission in the fleet of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Bureau of Commercial Fisheries from 1968 to 1970 as US FWS Delaware II.

After her NOAA career ended, she was sold and in 2014 was converted into the research and survey ship RV Med Surveyor, operating under the flag of Panama.

Delaware II's deck equipment featured five winches, one boom crane, two A-frames, and a movable gantry.

Based at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and operated by NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, Delaware II conducted fishery research in support of NMFS's Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC) Woods Hole Laboratory.

Research conducted from Delaware II sought to understand the physical and biological processes that control year-class strength of key, economically important fish species.