From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Teresa (Id. No. 4478) was built in 1900 as Austrian at Port Glasgow, Scotland, by Russel and Co. and owned by Unione Austriaca di Navigazione. The ship was taken over by the United States,Shipping Board on 27 September 1917 and chartered to the Army the same day, with a civilian crew. After a dispute between the Army quartermaster and the ship's civilian master, the Army requested that the Navy man the ship. The Navy accepted the ship and commissioned her in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) on 9 January 1918 at Newport News, Va. Teresa was refitted for naval service and headed for New York on the 29th. She loaded a cargo of Army supplies and returned to Norfolk. On 23 February, the cargo ship got underway with a convoy for France and arrived at St. Nazaire on 4 March. Teresa made four additional supply trips to France during the next 16 months. She ended her last voyage at Philadelphia on 28 June 1919 and was decommissioned there on 19 July 1919. The ship was returned to the Shipping Board the same day.