Wando remained at the Charleston Navy Yard until 15 April 1917, when she got underway for New England waters and, with the ferryboat USS Wave (YFB-10) in tow, steamed north, via Lynnhaven Roads, Virginia and the New York Navy Yard in New York City, arriving at Newport, Rhode Island, on 21 April 1917.

After brief tours of duty at Georgetown, South Carolina and Jacksonville, Florida, Wando sailed for Hampton Roads, Virginia, anchoring with the fleet in the York River on 11 June 1917.

Wando subsequently remained in the Chesapeake Bay-Hampton Roads-Tangier Sound region through the autumn months of 1917 and into the winter.

However, she continued to perform the same basic duties, serving as target and net tender and delivering mail and dispatches through the end of March 1918.

Returning to Norfolk on 6 May 1919, Wando towed targets and performed general utility service with the Atlantic Fleet Train through mid-July 1919 and then operated in waters off the northern part of the United States East Coast out of Newport, New London and New York.

Assigned to the 13th Naval District after her recommissioning to operate at the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, Wando performed her vital but unsung tug services from the late 1930s through World War II.

On 15 April 1944, she was reclassified again to a large harbor tug, YTB-123, a classification she carried for the remainder of her active naval service.

Her name was struck from the Navy List on 30 December 1946 and she was acquired by the Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company on 28 April 1947.