Her primary mission is to chart all aspects of the ocean and sea floor, primarily in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

[2] She was built for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey at the Aerojet-General Shipyards in Jacksonville, Florida.

[3] Rainier was delivered to the Coast and Geodetic Survey in April 1968, and commissioned on 2 October 1968 as USC&GS Rainier (MSS 21) in a joint ceremony with her sister ship USC&GS Fairweather at the Pacific Marine Center in Seattle, Washington.

[7][2] The ship's tanks hold 107,000 US gallons (410,000 L) for diesel fuel, giving Rainier an unrefueled range of 5,898 nautical miles.

She originally had an A-frame aft, but it was removed during a major refit in 2010 in favor of a Rolls-Royce Group ODIM Brooke Ocean MVP200 Moving Vessel Profiler for underway sound velocity determination during mapping missions.

[10] She carries a Kongsberg EM710 multibeam sonar,[10] and a variety of other conductivity, temperature, and water and bottom sampling instruments to map and characterize the ocean.

They can cruise at 24 knots driven by a single propeller powered by a Cummins QSC 8.3 liter 490-hp Diesel engine.

[12][8] Rainier's crew varies with her mission, but her maximum complement is 13 NOAA Corps commissioned officers/mates, 4 United States Coast Guard licensed engineers, 6 unlicensed engineers, 16 deckhands, 10 survey crew, 4 stewards, 1 electronics technician, and 1 maintenance person, plus up to 8 scientists.

While she was delivered to USC&GS in April 1968, she was not placed into commission until October because Congress had failed to appropriate funds to operate the ship.

[38] No injuries were reported, but the ship suffered damage to one of her propellers, dents in her hull, and paint scrapes.

[27] On March 22, 2018, NOAA hosted a ceremony in Newport, Oregon, to celebrate 'Rainier′s and her sister ship Fairweather′s 50 years of service.

The fire was caused by a malfunctioning MSD ventilation booster fan in the exhaust stacks and affected machinery spaces, the ship's machine shop, and a computer lab.

The intent of the program is to spread awareness of NOAA and ocean sciences generally to teachers who can use this knowledge in their classrooms.