L-9 shown here setting up to be towed to Ponta Delgada, Azores so that she could enter the war zone off Europe. December 4, 1917. The fleet tug USS Lykens (Fleet Tug No. 56) is likely nearby as the towing vessel. Her towing line would part three days later and L-9, battered by heavy seas, would be forced to return to Boston, arriving on December 13. After repairs and reconditioning, she finally joined her sister boats in Ireland on February 21, 1918 and promptly began running anti U-boat patrols.
