USS City of Lewes, a 254 gross ton patrol vessel and minesweeper, was built at Milford, Delaware, in 1912 as a civilian fishing vessel with the same name. Purchased by the Navy in May 1917 and placed in commission in that month, her name was officially shortened in July 1917 to Lewes, though the original longer name also continued to be used. In August and September 1917 she voyaged across the Atlantic to take up escort and patrol duties along the coast of France. This service, along with sweeping work to keep the region free of German mines, was performed for the rest of World War I, and the mine clearance effort continued into 1919. USS Lewes was decommissioned at Brest, France, in September 1919 and sold.