In 1942, after the American entry into World War II, the ship was requisitioned into military service with the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Declared surplus after the war, she was sold back into private hands in 1948 and became a fishing boat for the remainder of her career.

Plymouth was built by the Neafie and Levy Ship and Engine Building Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

She was commissioned by the Winthrop Steamboat Company, which intended to use her as a seasonal excursion boat to take passengers from Boston to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

On the main deck were four passenger staterooms, a social hall, a dining room which would seat 50, baggage storage, and washrooms.

The lower deck contained the engine and boiler rooms, crew quarters and mess, and the galley.

[9] In perhaps her most special event, she was chartered to serve as a tender for Sir Thomas Lipton's yacht Shamrock during his challenge for the 1899 America's Cup.

[12] In November 1899, J. R. Bacon, the general manager of the Winthrop Line, was in negotiations with the Lighthouse Board to sell Plymouth.

While the District Engineer was primarily responsible for the construction and maintenance of lighthouses, piers, and other structures, the District Inspector was primarily responsible for supplying lighthouses and lightships, and maintaining buoys and lightships in their assigned locations.

At that time, the 3rd Lighthouse District encompassed the coasts of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and portions of New Jersey.

Senator Chauncey Depew sailed on Iris to New York to attend the launch of Prince Henry of Prussia's yacht, Meteor in 1902.

[22] In September 1906, Secretary of the Treasury Lyman J. Gage took a vacation cruise along the New England coast aboard Iris.

Iris was reassigned to the 4th Lighthouse District, headquartered in Philadelphia, which included the coast of Delaware, and adjoining portions of the New Jersey, and Virginia shores.

[25] Secretary of Commerce William C. Redfield and a Congressional delegation were aboard Iris on 25 July 1914 for an inspection tour of lighthouses in Delaware Bay.

[26] On 11 April 1917 President Wilson issued Executive Order 2588[27] transferring a number of lighthouse tenders to support the American effort in World War I. Iris was transferred to the U.S. Department of War, and she was commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Iris.

Among her wartime roles was as a mine planter to defend Delaware Bay,[28] but she remained active tending buoys during her service with the Navy.

[30] After the war, on 1 July 1919,[31] the components of the Lighthouse Service which had become part of the Navy were returned to the supervision of the Department of Commerce.

Even though she was not in commission or even Federally documented, Iris was occasionally put to use, as in August 1937 when she installed a light on the Delaware River.

On 27 March 1939 she was redocumeted as Big Chief,[42] presumaby to fit the theme of the Pocahontas Coal Company fleet.

[44] She participated in salvage operations on the liner Manhattan which went aground off West Palm Beach, Florida in January 1941.

[49] Big Chief arrived at Naval Section Base Moorehead City, North Carolina on 11 April 1943, and left the next day bound for Norfolk.

[51] The mine depot distributed explosives and related materials to naval installations in the tidewater Virginia area, and Big Chief was busy on these supply runs.

[52] On 4 June 1945 USS Roy O. Hale was proceeding to a berth in Yorktown when she hit Big Chief's cargo loading booms.

For example, in December 1945 Big Chief transported a load of bombs and fuses from Naval Operating Base Norfolk to the mine depot.

During January 1946, Big Chief made two trips with "reject material", likely explosives, for dumping in deep water.

[60] His estate was sued for unpaid debts and his three vessels, including Big Chief, were seized by the U.S. Marshalls Service and scheduled for auction.

[35] In the 1960s, new hydraulic power block technology for hauling back purse seine nets promised large productivity gains on fishing boats, but required significant new investment.

B. O. Colonna and the two other ships in her company's fishing fleet were sold to Haynie Products, Inc. of Reedville, Virginia in 1969 for $500,000.

[67] In 1973, the fish populations the company depended on, particularly river herring, declined substantially due to overfishing.