Kerlew was built in 1906 at Stockton-on-Tees, England, by Craig, Taylor and Company, Ltd.[2] Prior to World War I, she served as the Austro-Hungarian commercial cargo ship Virginia.

She was named Kerlew and owned by Kerr Navigation Corporation of New York City by the time the United States Army acquired her on a bareboat charter basis in October 1917.

The U.S. Navy acquired Kerlew on 13 November 1918, two days after the end of World War I, at Cardiff, Wales, assigned her the naval registry Identification Number (Id.

She continued this duty until 29 January 1919, when she arrived at Invergordon, Scotland, to load a cargo of American naval mines for return to the United States.

Kerlew was decommissioned on 12 April 1919 and transferred the same day to the United States Shipping Board for simultaneous return to her owner.