The first USS Pollux (SP-2573) was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission for three weeks during April 1918. Pollux was built in 1909 at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Werf voorheen Rijkee N. V. as a commercial cargo ship. She was interned at Key West, Florida, during World War I. The U.S. Navy acquired Pollux for World War I service from her owners, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 20 March 1918 and commissioned her at Key West on 3 April 1918 as USS Pollux (SP-2573), with Lieutenant Commander Geert Scheltens, USNRF, in command.