Scanner (YAGR-5) was laid down on 24 January 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2344, as the liberty ship Edwin D. Howard, by J.A.

She was launched on 27 February 1945, sponsored by Mrs. John E. Davidson, and delivered on 14 March 1945, to the Alcoa Steamship Company.

She was converted to a radar picket ship at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and commissioned Scanner on 30 January 1956.

[5][3] Scanner departed Norfolk, on 28 March 1956, for her home port, San Francisco, California, and commenced her first patrol in the Pacific Ocean in July 1956, with the seaward extension of America's early warning defense system.

Struck from the Navy List on 1 September 1965, she was transferred permanently to the MARAD on 4 February 1966, and remained in the Suisun Bay reserve fleet until 3 October 1974, when she was sold for non-transport use.