The Cisco was built in 1950 by the Sturgeon Bay Ship Building Company in Wisconsin. She was built for the Fish and Wildlife Service to do surveys on the fishing industries and to test fish for environmental impact.

In the mid-1990s she was retired by the government, until 2002 when the Cisco was sold to Robert Gillespie at auction. Since then, the Cisco has been completely refitted by St. James Marine as a towing and research vessel.