 USFS Auklet and USFSMurre, fromPacific Motor Boat, June 1917. | |
  U.S. Bureau of Fisheries | |
|---|---|
| Name | USFSMurre |
| Namesake | Murre, aseabird of thegenusUria |
| Builder | Elliott Bay Yacht and Engine Company,Seattle, Washington |
| Acquired | 10 May 1917 |
| Commissioned | Summer 1917 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Transferred to U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service 30 June 1940 |
 U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service | |
| Name | US FWSMurre |
| Namesake | Previous name retained |
| Acquired | From U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 30 June 1940 |
| Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Fisherypatrol vessel |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 48 ft (15 m) |
| Beam | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Draft | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 8.5knots (16 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) |
| Crew | Three, plus two embarked fishery agents |
USFSMurre was an Americanfisherypatrol vessel that served in the waters ofSoutheast Alaska. She was in commission in theUnited States Bureau of Fisheries fleet from 1917 to 1940 and, asUS FWSMurre in the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service fleet from 1940 to 1942.Murre and hersister shipUSFS Auklet were the first vessels ever constructed for fisheries enforcement duties inAlaska.
In 1916, theUnited States Congress appropriated $10,000 to theUnited States Bureau of Fisheries (BOF) for the construction of twofisherypatrol vessels for service in the waters ofSoutheast Alaska.[2]Martin C. Erismann designed the vessels as identicalsister ships[2] and patterned them after the highly seaworthy design ofsalmonpurse seiners.[2] Built out ofDouglas fir,[2] they had a raiseddeck forward of thepilot house that dropped moving aft,[2] a raiseddeck house amidships which had an overhanging roof that covered the deck,[2] and a small afterdeck at thestern.[2] The sides extended upward to create the walls of the aftercabin.[2] Each boat had a 25-horsepower (19 kW)Frisco Standardgasoline engine[2] and comfortable accommodations for two fishery agents and a crew of three.[2]
Construction bids for the two vessels opened inSeattle,Washington, on 5 December 1916 and the project attracted seven bids.[2] Ultimately, the BOF signed a contract to build the vessels with theElliott Bay Yacht and Engine Company of Seattle.[2] Construction began immediately.[2] After the two boats were completed and inspected, the BOF accepted both boats, USFSMurre andUSFS Auklet, on 10 May 1917.[2] The total cost of designing, building, and inspecting the two boats came to US$9,702.70.[2] They were the first vessels ever constructed for fisheries enforcement duties inAlaska.[3]
The BOF commissioned bothMurre andAuklet in the summer of 1917.[2]Murre andAuklet departed Seattle on 7 July 1917 bound forWrangell,Territory of Alaska. After they arrived, they took up their patrol duties in the waters of Southeast Alaska.[2]
On 25 October 1918, theCanadianpassenger linerSS Princess Sophia sank with the loss of all 343 people on board after grounding onVanderbilt Reef inLynn Canal near Juneau;[4] it was the worst maritime disaster in the combined history of Alaska andBritish Columbia.Murre joinedAuklet and the BOF fishery patrol vesselUSFS Osprey in a fruitless search for survivors that lasted into November 1918.[2]
In addition to performing their primary duty of fishery patrols in the waters of Southeast Alaska,Auklet andMurre often engaged in other activities.[2] They assisted theUnited States Department of War in inspecting active and abandonedfish traps as possible navigational obstructions,[2] and took part in routine stream improvements, which involved the removal of impediments to salmon – such aslog jams andbeaver dams – as they ascended to theirspawning grounds.[2]
In 1919–1920, the BOF loanedMurre to theUnited States Census Bureau.[2] On 3 December 1919, a fire broke out in hergalley while she was moored atHoonah, Alaska, with her crew sleeping on board.[2] The crew awoke and extinguished it, but not before it caused US$600 damage to the ship and considerable property loss to the crew.[2] While conductingcensus work for theUnited States Department of the Interior'sBureau of Education,Murre struck a rock in Alaska'sKeku Strait on 1 April 1920 and was beached to prevent her from sinking.[2]Auklet arrived on the scene and towedMurre to Wrangell for repairs, which cost more than US$1,600.[2] Investigations into both incidents found no fault on the part ofMurre'scaptain or crew.[2]
In September 1920,Murre andAuklet conducted stream-marking.[2] Over the winter of 1920–1921, the BOF loanedMurre to the Bureau of Education and to theUnited States Department of Justice.[2]
In 1921Murre andAuklet began a program of annual springtime patrolling ofsealing grounds nearSitka, Territory of Alaska, duringfur seal migrations.[2] By 1922, bothMurre andAuklet had had their original engines replaced with heavier, 40-horsepower (30 kW) Frisco Standard gasoline engines that gave them additional power they needed to deal with the high winds and seas they frequently encountered in the waters of the Territory of Alaska.[2]
In the spring of 1924,Murre briefly assisted the U.S. Department of War in looking for improper lighting on unattended fish traps and structures that could pose hazards to navigation in navigable waters in Alaska.[2] In February 1928,Murre andAuklet both hadwater heating systems installed at Juneau,[2] and later in 1928 each boat had her galley enlarged to increase the comfort of crew and passengers.[2]
In 1930,Murre supported a project by Dr.Willis H. Rich to tagpink salmon and study salmon migration routes in Alaska.[2] In March 1932, she assisted B. E. Smith of Ketchikan, Alaska, in transporting approximately 300,000 Japanese seedoysters to Southeast Alaska and planting them there in the hope of establishing a new food source.[2] In 1936, she again supported Rich's salmon project.[2]
In addition to her Southeast Alaska patrol duties,Murre occasionally patrolled in other waters of the Territory of Alaska.[2] In the mid-1930s, she patrolled in theKatalla,Prince William Sound, andSeward areas.[2]
In 1937,Murre was on a voyage from Seattle to Alaska when hercrankshaft broke.[2] The BOF vesselUSFS Teal rendezvoused with her and towed her into port.[2]
In 1939, the Bureau of Fisheries was transferred from theUnited States Department of Commerce to the U.S. Department of the Interior,[5] and on 30 June 1940, it merged with the Interior Department's Division of Biological Survey to form the newFish and Wildlife Service (FWS) as an element of the Interior Department.[6] Via this reorganization,Murre became part of the fleet of the new FWS as US FWSMurre in 1940.
After theUnited States enteredWorld War II,Murre reportedly came underUnited States Navy control in 1942 for war service.[2]
