USC&GS Taku was a United States Coast and Geodetic Survey survey ship in service from 1898 to 1917. She was the only Coast and Geodetic Survey ship to bear the name.

Taku was built by George Kneass at San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, at a cost of $11,844.35 (USD) in 1898. The Coast and Geodetic Survey placed her in service that year. She spent her Survey career in the Pacific, primarily in the waters of the Territory of Alaska.

Tragedy struck Takus crew in 1910 when a member of her crew, Seaman

Seaman

Seaman is one of the lowest ranks in a Navy. In the Commonwealth it is the lowest rank in the Navy, followed by Able Seaman and Leading Seaman, and followed by the Petty Officer ranks....

 H. Fitch, drowned when a small boat under sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

 was upset in Cordova Bay

Cordova bay

Cordova Bay is a bay in the Alexander Archipelago of southeast Alaska. It opens onto Dixon Entrance to the south, between Cape Muzon on Dall Island and Point Marsh . The name Puerto Cordova y Cordova was given by the Spanish explorer Lieutenant Don Jacinto Caamaño in 1792, in honor of Admiral Luis...

, Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

.

Taku was retired from Coast and Geodetic Survey service in 1917.