In 1942, Seven Bells was purchased by the US War Shipping Administration (WSA), a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. The WSA then allocated the boat to the US Navy for use as an anti-submarine net-tending vessel in San Francisco Bay for the duration of the war.

At a war surplus sale in the late 1940s, Seven Bells was purchased by Lucile and Ernie Mills. At the time of its return to civilian life, the boat was sitting in a Navy Yard on the hard with no engines, thoroughly covered inside and out with several thick coats of Navy gray paint. The Mills purchased the boat for a token price, stripped the paint, added engines, varnish, white paint, and upholstery, restoring it to its original condition. They then used it extensively in the Bay and Delta until selling it in 1958. Their daughter provided the images on this page.