The first USS Thetis was a three-masted, wooden-hulled steam whaler in the United States Navy used to rescue a polar expedition and later in the Revenue Cutter Service. Thetis was built in 1881 at Dundee, Scotland, by Alexander Stephen & Sons. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 2 February 1884 to be employed by the expedition to relieve the polar exploration party under the command of Lt. Adolphus W. Greely. She sailed from Dundee under the command of Lt. L. L. Reamey and arrived in New York on 23 March 1884.