Gretchen was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1902 by White of Belhaven, North Carolina. On 20 August 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owners, the North Carolina Fisheries Commission, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Gretchen (SP-1181) at Oriental, North Carolina, on 24 August 1917 with Master I. H. Scarborough, USNRF, in command. Gretchen was decommissioned and simultaneously returned to the fisheries commission on 1 January 1919.