Ripple, a 244 gross ton steam-powered fishing trawler built at Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1910, was purchased by the Imperial Russian Government in 1917 for use during World War I. However, the revolution in that country prevented her from leaving the United States and, in May 1918 she was chartered by the U.S. Navy. Placed in service in August 1918 as Ripple (ID # 2439), she operated as a minesweeper off New York City for the remainder of the conflict and for the first few months of the post-Armistice period. Ripple was returned to representatives of the Russian Government in February 1919.