Bonita was built as a private pleasure craft by the Holmes Motor Company at Mystic, Connecticut. On 17 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, Mr. Robert Windsor of Boston, Massachusetts, for use as a section patrol vessel during World War I. She was commissioned as USS Bonita (SP-540) soon thereafter. Assigned to the 1st Naval District, Bonita operated on patrol duties in Boston Harbor for the rest of World War I.