USS B.H.B. Hubbard, a 400-ton patrol vessel and minesweeper, was built at Wilmington, Delaware, in 1911 as the steam fishing trawler of the same name. She was purchased by the Navy in June 1917 and placed in commission in mid-August. Under the terms of General Order # 314, issued in late July 1917, her name was officially shortened to Hubbard, but the longer original name also continued in use. She went to western French waters, by way of the Azores, in October 1917 and for the rest of the First World War was employed escorting coastal convoys and in minesweeping tasks. The latter function continued after the 11 November 1918 Armistice, since mines were unable to recognize that fighting had ceased. B.H.B. Hubbard attempted to return to the U.S. in April 1919, but the effort was thwarted by bad weather and she returned to France. After further service carrying cargo, in October 1919 she was decommissioned at Brest, France, and sold back to the Norfolk, Virginia, fishing company that had owned her prior to her time in the Navy.