The third Pilgrim, a motorized fishing boat built at Wilmington, Del. in 1893 for the Beaufort Fish Scrap and Oil Co., New Bern, N.C., was formally acquired by the Navy on free lease 30 June 1917, after she had been fitted out for patrol duty, and commissioned 18 July 1917. Assigned to 5th Naval District, Pilgrim operated in Pamlico Sound and Onslow Bay as far south as the New River until she decommissioned 7 January 1919 and was returned to her owner.