Tigress was built in 1905 as a private yawl of the same name by W. A. Robinson at Bridgeport, Connecticut. On 26 June 1917, the U.S. Navy inspected her in the 7th Naval District for possible naval use and chartered her from her owner that year for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She never received a section patrol (SP) number, but was commissioned on 18 August 1917 as USS Tigress.