SS Vagabond, a wooden-hulled purse seiner built in 1935 at Tacoma, Washington, by the Martinac Shipbuilding Co. was acquired by the Navy from Marko Bokich, et al., on 22 October 1940. She was designated AMc-7 shortly thereafter; renamed USS Bunting on 6 November 1940; converted to a coastal minesweeper by the Campbell Machine Company at San Diego, California. She was placed in service at the Destroyer Base, San Diego, on 6 June 1941, Ens. Paul H. McBride, USNR, in command.