USS Sagamore (ATA-208), originally designated ATR-135, was laid down simply as ATA-208 on 27 November 1944 by the Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, Texas; launched on 17 January 1945; and commissioned on 19 March 1945.

Following shakedown off the Texas coast, ATA-208 departed Galveston on 18 April for Hawaii and general towing duty in the Pacific.

Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 June, she operated as a unit of Service Squadron Two (ServRon 2) for the remainder of the year on towing assignments that took her east to California and west to Okinawa.

On 2 February, she arrived at Norfolk and reported to the Commandant of the 5th Naval District for operational and administrative control.

Named Sagamore on 16 July 1948, she continued general towing duty, ranging the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.