Underwriter, a 170 gross ton tug, was built at Camden, New Jersey, in 1881. Rebuilt in 1903, she was employed as a pilot boat at New Orleans, Louisiana, when the needs of World War I brought her into Naval service. Taken over by the Navy at the beginning of July 1918, and commissioned as USS Underwriter (ID # 1390) in August, she was stationed at the New Orleans Naval Station for the rest of the war and beyond. In addition to tug work, her duties included minesweeping and, after the war ended, training Naval Reserves. In July 1920 Underwriter received the hull number YT-44 and a few months later was renamed Adirondack. A survey in early 1922 revealed that her hull required excessively costly repairs. The tug was accordingly decommissioned at the beginning of March and sold in early June 1922.