When the U.S. joined World War I in May 1917, two German ships anchoring in Pago Pago were seized. The 10,000-ton ''Elsass'' was towed to Honolulu and turned over to the U.S. Navy, while its smaller gunboat, ''Solf'', was refitted in Pago Pago and given the name . Wireless messaging between Pago Pago and Hawaii was routed through Fiji. As the British censored all messages through Fiji, the Navy quickly upgraded the facilities to go directly between Pago Pago and Honolulu.