From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol.III, p 157

Gresham

(RC: dp. 1,090 ; 1. 205'6'' ; b. 32'0'' ; dr. 12'6'' ; s. 14.5 k. ; cpl. 103 ; a. 4 3'', 2 mg.)

Gresham, a revenue cutter built in 1896 by Globe Iron Works Co., Cleveland, Ohio, was commissioned by the Revenue Cutter Service 30 May 1897 for service out of Milwaukee in Lake Michigan and adjacent waters. On 24 March 1898 she was ordered to cooperate with the Navy during the Spanish-American War. Following alterations at Ogdensburg, N.Y., she arrived Boston 30 April and patrolled northern coastal waters.

Gresham was returned to the Treasury Department 17 August 1898 and operated in the Revenue Cutter Service until World War I. When the United States entered the World War, Gresham was transferred to the Navy 6 April 1917. For the duration of hostilities, she performed patrol and escort duty in the North Atlantic protecting Allied shipping from the menace of U-boats vainly trying to interrupt the growing flow of American fighting men and equipment which doomed the Central Powers. After the war ended, Gresham was returned to the Treasury Department 28 August 1919.