Charles Mann was built as a commercial tug of the same name in 1903 at South Portland, Maine. The U.S. Navy purchased her on 6 or 7 June 1917 for use as a tug and section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Charles Mann (SP-522) on 7 June 1917 with Chief Boatswain's Mate A. Lundgren in command. Assigned to the 1st Naval District, Charles Mann carried out patrol duty and conducted towing operations in the Boston, Massachusetts, area for the rest of World War I and into 1919. Charles Mann was decommissioned on 29 November 1919 and sold on 27 February 1920.