Arroyo was built as a civilian motorboat of the same name in 1913 by the Luders Marine Construction Company at Stamford, Connecticut. The U.S. Navy leased her for one dollar from her owner, Mr. A. M. Huntington, on 21 April 1917 for World War I service as a patrol vessel. She was commissioned as USS Arroyo (SP-197) at the New York Navy Yard at Brooklyn, New York, on 25 June 1917.
