USS Sea Rover ( AT - 57 ) USS " Sea Rover " ( SP - 1014 ) , later AT - 57 , was a United States Navy armed tug in commission from 1918 to 1921 . Construction , acquisition , and commissioning . " Sea Rover " was built in 1902 as the commercial tugboat SS " Sea Rover " by Fulton Iron Works at San Francisco , California . She operated in United States West Coast waters in mercantile service until 11 December 1917 , when her owners , the Shipowners & Merchants Tugboat Company of San Francisco , sold her to the United States Shipping Board , which immediately transferred her to the U . S . Navy for use during World War I . She was assigned the section patrol number 1014 and commissioned on 31 January 1918 as USS " Sea Rover " ( SP - 1014 ) with Lieutenant , junior grade , F . M . Cook , USNRF , in command . U . S . Navy service . World War I . " Sea Rover " departed Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo , California , on 11 February 1918 towing three barges to the United States East Coast . After completing this voyage , she underwent repairs at Norfolk , Virginia , then served briefly as station tug at New London , Connecticut , before arriving at Bermuda on 18 May 1918 to serve as station tug there . As her machinery was considered too unreliable for convoy work , " Sea Rover " remained at Bermuda for over a year , primarily engaged in towing in the harbor and near the islands . However , on 2 September 1918 , she departed Bermuda to escort the destroyer USS " Barry " ( Destroyer No . 2 ) to Charleston , South Carolina . " Barry " released the tug from escort duty on 3 September 1918 and directed her to return to Bermuda , but on 4 September 1918 Sea Rover ran into a hurricane . During the next two days , " Sea Rover " cracked a seam in a fuel tank , developed a severe list which caused her to send an SOS , and finally took refuge in the Bahama Islands on 7 September 1918 . Bermuda did not hear of her arrival at the Bahamas and , after an unsuccessful search for her , mistakenly reported her lost at sea on 9 September 1918 . " Sea Rover " underwent repairs at Jacksonville , Florida , and returned to Bermuda on 14 October 1918 , where she remained as station tug through the end of the war on 11 November 1918 and into 1919 . Postwar . " Sea Rover " next left Bermuda on 10 May 1919 to escort 40 submarine chaser s to Charleston , South Carolina , but suffered a boiler failure during the voyage and had to be towed there herself . After repairs , she returned to duty at Bermuda on 10 June 1919 , but was detached from duty there on 1 July 1919 . Departing Bermuda on 14 July 1919 , " Sea Rover " towed a gunnery target to the United States West Coast and arrived at San Francisco on 27 September 1919 . There she was drydocked and then laid up in reserve with a caretaker crew . While in reserve , " Sea Rover " was reclassified as a fleet tug ( AT ) and redesignated AT - 57 on 1 July 1920 . Disposal and later career . " Sea Rover " was decommissioned on 4 March 1921 and stricken from the Navy List effective on the date of her final sale . This proved to be 25 February 1922 , when she was sold to R . W . Greene of San Francisco . Once again SS " Sea Rover " , the tug returned to commercial service with the Shipowners and Merchants Tugboat Company of San Francisco until scrapped in 1949 .