Kermoor was built in 1907 at Sunderland, England,[1] by JL Thompson and Sons, Ltd as the Austro-Hungarian commercial cargo ship SS Morawitz.

Upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she took refuge at Galveston, Texas, in the then-neutral United States to avoid capture or destruction by Allied forces.

Unlike most commercial ships commissioned into US Navy service during World War I, Kermoor never received a naval registry Identification Number (Id.

Operated by the Navy under Army account, Kermoor served out of Cardiff, carrying coal and military supplies between UK and French ports until 1 March 1919.

Kermoor was decommissioned at Hoboken, New Jersey, on 5 May 1919 and transferred to the United States Shipping Board the same day for simultaneous return to the Kerr Navigation Company.