The Diesel Shipbuilding Company built Gloria Michelle at Jacksonville, Florida, in 1974 as a steel-hulled, diesel-powered commercial shrimp boat for use in the Gulf of Mexico.

[2] Configured as a stern trawler,[1] she had a larger deck area suitable for research work, a refrigerated fish hold, and a diesel engine offering twice the horsepower of Rorqual's powerplant.

In her early years, she engaged in cooperative experiments and tested new scallop dredges, beam trawls, and groundfish nets designed to reduce wasteful and destructive bycatch.

[3] She carries out an annual survey of shrimp populations in the Gulf of Maine – a joint effort of the NEFSC and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries – over a four-week period in July and August, embarking ten passengers and crew for voyages of up to five days at a time.

[2] During these surveys, Gloria Michelle typically fishes for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, brings everything aboard for embarked scientists to measure and study, and then repeats the process.

[4] During the rest of her annual operating season, Gloria Michelle engages in a variety of special projects, which have included deploying a wave data buoy in Rhode Island Sound for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, multibeam sonar mapping of underwater topography, testing of new technology, recovery of equipment lost by other vessels, and photographic identification of marine mammals.

[5] Rear Admiral Jonathan W. Bailey, the director of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps from 2007 until his retirement in 2012, served as officer-in-charge of Gloria Michelle early in his career.