Maxwell was built in 1961.  She was 115 feet long with a 25 foot beam, a draft of 7 feet and a displacement of 244 tons.  Her cruising speed was 12.6 knots.  She had a compliment of 4 officers, 5 hydrographic staff and 10 crew.  Her home base was the Bedford Institute of Oceanography for most of her career although she was based out of St. John's, Nfld. for a short period.  Her work area ranged from the southern most tip of Canadian waters to the Labrador Coast.  Highly regarded as a tight-knit team that was capable of everything from systematic surveys to high priority, fire-fighting tasks.

     In 1965 underwent refit at the Dartmouth Shipyards before the survey season started on 3 May. This was completed after the survey ended on 14 July.