On transfer to the Navy the vessel was classified as a "light cargo ship" for the United States Navy′s Military Sea Transportation Service as USNS AKL-30 (T-AKL-30) from 1950 to 1961.

[4] In early 1966, she took part in the first winter oceanographic measurement of the Alaskan Stream – a current related closely to the formation of the salmon fishing ground – in the western subarctic region of the North Pacific.

[4] On 3 October 1970, a major reorganization occurred which formed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the United States Department of Commerce.

In the summer of 1971, she conducted a cruise in the North Pacific to collect salmon and sea trout samples which were later analyzed in genetic and maturity studies.

[4] In the autumn of 1971, she made a 21-day cruise off Washington and British Columbia to sample ichthyoplankton and zooplankton populations and conduct tests in the field of fishing gear, including net systems, on-board larvae-holding facilities, a seawater chemical concentration autoanalyzer, and a method of using computers to process salinity and water temperature data.

[4] In the spring of 1972, she cruised for 22 days near Kodiak, Alaska, examining oceanographic and environmental conditions and testing the operation of shipboard data acquisition devices.

She spent the years from 1976 to 1980 primarily operating in connection with the Marine Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) New York Bight Project, which used benthic sampling to monitor and research the short-term ecological effects of ocean dumping.

[4] In January 1980, 35 scientists from 13 countries taking part in an intergovernmental project to gather oceanographic data on the effects of common pollutants conducted open-ocean sampling aboard George B. Kelez in the North Atlantic Ocean off Bermuda.

In April 1982 the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship of Brooklyn, New York, purchased the ship and renamed her MV Earl "Bull" Shepard.

[3] In 2005, Croyance was spotted tied up in a rusty condition at Moss Point, Mississippi, bearing a port of registry of San Lorenzo, Honduras.

[4] In 2006, the Omega Protein Corporation of Reedville, Virginia, acquired her, registered her in the United States, renovated her for use as a menhaden fishing vessel, and renamed her MV Smuggler's Point.