She was commissioned as USS Wilbert A. Edwards (SP-315) on 10 August 1917[1] at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia, with Lieutenant D. C. Kindell, USNRF, .

However, on 26 September 1917 she suffered an engine casualty and notified the nearby United States Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Algonquin of her plight.

By 0500 hours on 2 October 1917, the chief engineer on board reported to Lieutenant Phillips that the ship was taking water and that he was unable to keep the flooding under control.

Algonquin kept Wilbert A. Edwards in tow as she steamed ahead at slow speed, and the two ships eventually returned to Halifax on 4 October 1917.

However, the Navy concluded that she would not be fit for "distant service" and, on 2 February 1918, reassigned her to section patrol duties in the 1st Naval District in northern New England.