Kanised, a 25-ton motor boat, was built in 1913 at Salisbury, Maryland, as a pleasure craft. She was originally named Lebanon. The Navy leased her in May 1917, placing her in commission as USS Karibou (SP-200). During World War I, she was employed as a patrol and mail boat in the vicinity of Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia. She also operated in the James and York Rivers and along the Atlantic coast near Virginia Beach. Karibou was decommissioned and returned to her owner in February 1919.