USS Natoma, a 120-foot patrol craft, was built prior to World War I at Morris Heights, New York, as a pleasure craft with the same name. She was taken over by the Navy in July 1917 and placed in commission in August. During the rest of the First World War she performed patrol work in the Third Naval District, which included the region around New York City. Decommissioned following the end of the conflict, Natoma was transferred to the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in April 1919.