The second ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, Galatea was a fresh water yacht built in 1914 by Pusey and Jones of Wilmington, Delaware; purchased by the Navy 14 July 1917 at Detroit, Michigan, from E. L. Ford, Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, and commissioned at Detroit 25 August 1917.

Galatea departed Detroit 25 August 1917 for the Boston Navy Yard where she decommissioned 26 September for conversion to an armed patrol craft.

Proceeding by way of Bermuda, Galatea arrived Ponta Delgada, Azores, 22 January 1918, racked and strained by the towing of the submarine chaser.

She carried the American Consul from Ponta Delgada for official calls on the governors of Horta, Fayal and Angra, Terceira, returning to her base in time to honor Navy Seaplane NC-3 on 19 May, and Navy Seaplane NC-4 on 20 May, as they arrived in Ponta Delgada on the historic first transoceanic flight.

The following year she was towed to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, to serve as receiving ship for submarine crews.