Desire was built as a private motorboat of the same name in 1913 by J. W. Munn at Galveston, Texas. In 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired her under a free lease from her owner, Clifford Abeles of St. Louis, Missouri, for use as a section patrol boat during World War I. She was commissioned on 14 June 1917 as USS Desire (SP-786).
Assigned to the 5th Naval District, Desire carried out patrol duties and transported customs inspectors for the rest of World War I.
Desire was decommissioned and returned to Abeles on 2 January 1919.