USS Tanager ( AM - 385 ) USS " Tanager " ( AM - 385 ) was an acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing . " Tanager " was named after the tanager , any of the numerous American , passerine birds . The brightly colored males are unmusical and inhabit woodlands . " Tanager " , a minesweeper and the second United States Navy warship with that name , was laid down at Lorain , Ohio , on 29 March 1944 by the American Ship Building Company ; launched on 9 December 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Thomas Slingluff ; and commissioned on 28 July 1945 , Lt . Comdr . Oscar B . Lundgren , USNR , in command . Operations with the 2nd Fleet . " Tanager " steamed via the St . Lawrence River to Boston , Massachusetts , in late July and early August . In October , she moved south to the Naval Amphibious Base at Little Creek , Virginia , for shakedown training and mine - sweeping exercises in the Chesapeake Bay area . For almost six years , " Tanager " operated with the U . S . 2nd Fleet along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean area . She conducted minesweeping exercises and supported the training efforts of the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown , Virginia . On three occasions — once each in 1948 , 1950 , and 1951 — she did tours of duty with the Naval Mine Countermeasures Station , located at Panama City , Florida . Operations with the 6th Fleet . On 2 September 1951 , she departed Charleston , South Carolina , for the Mediterranean Sea . While she was deployed with the U . S . 6th Fleet , she conducted more minesweeping exercises and visited many of the famous ports in the area . Among those were Mers - el - Kebir , Gibraltar , Naples , Monaco , Cannes , Venice , Malta , and Genoa . Second Mediterranean tour of duty . In February 1952 , " Tanager " returned to Charleston and resumed operations with the 2nd Fleet . After repairs at Charleston and a voyage to Norfolk , Virginia , and back , the minesweeper began her second Mediterranean deployment in April 1953 . During that cruise , she added some new ports - of - call to her itinerary , notably Tangier , Palermo , Marseille , Livorno , Thessaloniki and Seville . She also participated in a number of minesweeping exercises with other units of the 6th Fleet . " Tanager " re - entered Charleston on 26 October 1953 . First decommissioning . Following minesweeping exercises along the southeastern coast of the United States and in the Caribbean , she entered the yard at Savannah Machine & Foundry Co . on 29 June 1954 for repairs . On 23 September , the minesweeper departed Savannah , Georgia , and headed for Beaumont , Texas . She arrived on the 28th and entered the drydock the same day . She was refloated on 8 October and towed to the naval station at Orange , Texas . Two months later , on 10 December 1954 , " Tanager " was decommissioned and berthed there with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . On 7 February 1955 , the minesweeper was redesignated MSF - 385 . Transfer to the U . S . Coast Guard . On 4 October 1963 , " Tanager " was transferred to the U . S . Coast Guard for use as a training cutter . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1963 , and she was commissioned in the Coast Guard as " Tanager " ( WTR - 885 ) on 16 July 1964 . Decommissioning , sale and demise . She was decommissioned once more on 1 February 1972 ; and , on 15 November , she was sold to Mr . William A . Hardesty of Seattle , Washington . She served several decades more as the yacht Eagle . An effort to convert it into a latter day Calypso - style research ship failed and she ended her days , like the recently scrapped S S Catalina , in Ensenda , Mexico . Film productions . The " Tanager " was used in the filming of the motion pictures The Usual Suspects and Hitman ' s Run in 2001 , as well as the television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer