Name Pioneer In service 17 September 1941 | Completed 1929 Length 63 m | |
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Namesake Pioneer, one who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow Acquired 1941 by U.S. Department of Commerce on loan from U.S. Navy Fate Returned to U.S. Navy 16 March 1942 Builder Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft | ||
USC&GS Pioneer was a survey ship that served in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1941 to 1942. She was the second ship of the Coast and Geodetic Survey to bear the name.
Contents
Early Years and initial U.S. Navy service
Pioneer was completed in 1929 by Germaniawerft at Kiel, Germany, as the private yacht Haida. The United States Navy purchased Haida in 1940, modified her for naval use, and commissioned her as patrol yacht USS Argus (PY-14) in 1941.
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey career
The U.S. Navy decommissioned Argus later in 1941 and loaned her to the Coast and Geodetic Survey for use as a survey ship. The Coast and Geodetic Survey modified her for her new role, renamed her Pioneer, and placed her in service on 17 September 1941.
Pioneer was able to accomplish little survey work before the entry of the United States into World War II led to her return to the U.S. Navy on 16 March 1942 under Executive Order 9072 of 24 February 1942.
Later career
The U.S. Navy recommissioned the ship, again as patrol yacht USS Argus (PY-14), in April 1942, and she remained in commission until 1946, spending most of her naval career patrolling San Francisco Bay. She was sold for use as the private yacht Sarina in 1946, then again in 1981, becoming the charter yacht Rosenkavalier, and again in 2000, becoming the yacht Haida G. Restored to the appearance of the original Haida of 1929, Haida G. remains in service today.