[1] Sabalo was built as a civilian motor yacht in 1916 by George Lawley and Sons at Neponset, Massachusetts for W. Earl Dodge of New York City, a local financier.

Assigned to the 3rd Naval District, Sabalo operated in the New York Harbor area on section patrol duty for the remainder of World War I.

[1] On 1 October 1917, she joined the patrol vessel USS Mohican in coming to the assistance of the sinking patrol vessel USS Mohawk, which had collided with the British tanker Vennacher off Sandy Hook, New Jersey, and she and Mohican rescued all 77 members of Mohawk's crew.

Black's estate in turn sold her in 1931 to the Albert Pack Corporation of Chicago, Illinois, which renamed her Breezin' Thru.

After failing to acquire any British vessels at the beginning of World War II for auxiliary purposes, the Royal Canadian Navy discreetly searched the American market for suitable ships.

[5] The Royal Canadian Navy acquired Breezin' Thru in 1940 after she was purchased by Clarence Wallace, the president of Burrard Dry Dock.

After commissioning, Cougar had a quiet career on the west coast, initially placed on antisubmarine patrol out of Esquimalt, British Columbia.