Kumigan was built as a civilian motor yacht in 1917 by the Great Lakes Boat Building Corporation. The U.S. Navy acquired her on 8 May 1917 from her owner, Albert Pack of East Chicago, Illinois, for use as a patrol vessel during World War I.
Kumigan was assigned the section patrol designation SP-97 and was enrolled in the Naval Coastal Defense Reserve on 10 May 1917. However, she was never commissioned, saw no active U.S. Navy service, and was returned to her owner early in the summer of 1917.