Following the declaration of war, 6 April 1917, USS "Maumee" was assigned duty refueling at sea the destroyers being sent to Britain. Stationed about 300 miles south of Greenland, "Maumee" was ready for the second group of six U.S. ships to be sent as they closed on her on 28 May 1917. Following this first deployment, she transferred fuel to 34 destroyers over the course of a three-month period. These fuel transfers were made with only a separation between the moving ships. With the fueling of those destroyers, "Maumee" pioneered the Navy's underway refueling operations, thus establishing a pattern of mobile logistic support which would enable the Navy to keep its fleets at sea for extended periods, with a far greater range independent of the use of a friendly port.