She was launched on 16 June 1934 at the Seattle shipyard of Lake Union Dry Dock & Machine Works,[1] one of 18 Thetis-class patrol boats.[2] [3] She was commissioned on 20 September 1934 and assigned to Seattle, Washington where she conducted rescue and law enforcement operations as well as annual Bering Sea patrols.[1] In September 1942, Atalanta was assigned to the United States Navy Western Sea Frontier where she conducted convoy escort and patrol duty.[1] She was one of the early ships in the "Alaskan Navy".[4]
Atalanta was decommissioned on 1 August 1950 and was placed in mothball at the Coast Guard mooring in Kennydale, Renton, Washington.[1] On 7 December 1954, she was sold to Birchfield Boiler, Inc., of Tacoma, Washington for $7,156.[1]