The first Navy ship to be named Houston, AK-1 was the former German freighter SS Liebenfels, built by Bremer Vulcan, Vegesack, Germany, in 1903.

Assigned to the transport service, Houston departed Charleston 11 July 1917, loaded coal and oil at Hampton Roads, and joined a convoy sailing from New York on 7 August 1917.

She arrived at Brest on 25 August and subsequently made four voyages to and from New York transporting radio equipment, trucks, airplanes, and general supplies.

Until her return to New York 14 April 1921 Houston carried coal, ordnance, lumber, and general supplies between the coasts in support of the Navy's two-ocean operations.

She sailed from New York on 4 May 1921, took on cargo at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk, and steamed by way of San Francisco, California, Pearl Harbor and Guam to Manila, arriving 22 October 1921.