The Navy commissioned her as USS Saltilla (SP-687) on 31 May 1917 and she was enrolled in the Naval Coast Defense Reserve on 18 June 1917.

While lying alongside the Hodge Boiler Works pier at Boston in mid-1918, Satilla was accidentally rammed by the minesweeper USS Ibis (SP-3051) and suffered considerable damage.

Although her hull was buckled in on the port side and leaking, she was repaired over the next few months and returned to duty, although not until after the end of World War I. Satilla steamed to Boston, Massachusetts, on 19 September 1919, where she was placed in the custody of the Commandant, 1st Naval District.

Stricken from the Navy List on 7 November 1919, Satilla was sold on 25 March 1920 to Oscar L. Ledberg of Providence, Rhode Island.

Ledberg renamed her Edith, and used her as a yacht until 1927, when he sold her to Captain William Baletti of Hoboken, New Jersey.