She was the first large ship purpose-built by any country for the promotion of fisheries,[5] and spent her 46-year career operating along the United States East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, and off Puerto Rico.

Fish Commission, recognized a need for ships to operate along the coast of the United States to engage in exploration, conduct surveys, and perform scientific research on marine resources.

[5] The Fish Commission chose a design by C. W. Copeland of the United States Lighthouse Board,[5] and the Pusey and Jones Company built the ship at Wilmington, Delaware.

[6] Fish Hawk had a fore-and-aft two-masted schooner rig, coal-fired steam propulsion, and twin screws, and was intended for coastal work rather than oceanic research.

[9] Fish Hawk's main deck was filled with hatching equipment to allow her to serve as a floating hatchery for American shad, striped bass, mackerel, and herring.

Cam machinery caused the cylinders to rise gently and drop more rapidly for about eight inches (20 cm), which made the eggs circulate freely without settling on the bottom.

[5] Fish Hawk also was outfitted to conduct general scientific research related to fisheries, including depth sounding, measuring the temperature of the sea bottom, and collecting marine animals and plants.

"[12] Fish Hawk was designed to work year-round in an annual cycle in which she engaged in scientific research involving trawling and dredging in the summer, then steamed north to collect and hatch cod eggs in late autumn.

[5][13] She made her first scientific cruise on 6 August 1880, embarking naturalists and spending the day trawling and dredging in Narragansett Bay west of Conanicut Island to test her equipment.

During September and early October 1880, operating from Newport, she made four voyages to dredge the edge of the continental shelf, during which she gathered data establishing the range and quantity of the tilefish, which later would become an important fishery.

"[17] With the four voyages completed, she returned to Wilmington from 13 October to 13 November 1880 to have her hatching cones installed[18] so that she could begin her first hatchery work with shad eggs off the southeast coast of the United States by about March 1881.

[5] In December 1916, Fish Hawk participated in the eighth annual Convention of the Southern Commercial Congress in Norfolk, Virginia, joining the Bureau of Fisheries steamer Roosevelt in exhibiting several fishery-related items and devices.