USS Katie, a 15-ton motor boat, was built in 1916 at Crittenden, Virginia, for the Virginia Fish and Oyster Commission. She may have originally been named Owaissa. The Navy chartered her for World War I service and placed her in commission in April 1917. She subsequently served as a patrol craft in the James River, Chesapeake Bay and lower Potomac River. Katie was decommissioned and returned to her owner in October 1918.