USS Cauto (ID-1538) was a United States Navy cargo ship in commission from 1918 to 1919.

SS Cauto on 19 June 1916, nearing completion at the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Company, Seattle, Washington.
History
United States
Name	USS Cauto
Namesake	Previous name retained
Builder	Seattle Construction and Drydock Company, Seattle, Washington
Launched	23 September 1916
Completed	9 December 1916
Acquired	12 July 1918
Commissioned	13 July 1918
Decommissioned	22 February 1919
Fate	Transferred to United States Shipping Board for return to owner 1919
Notes	In commercial service as SS Cauto 1916-1918 and 1919-1937 Wrecked 1937
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	3,820 Gross register tons
Displacement	8,060 tons
Length	368 ft (112 m)
Beam	47 ft (14 m)
Draft	22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Installed power	2,500 indicated horsepower
Propulsion	Steam engine, one shaft
Speed	14 knots
Complement	62
Armament	2 × 3-inch (76.2-millimeter) guns

SS Cauto was a commercial cargo ship launched in 1916 and completed on 9 December 1916 at Seattle, Washington, by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company for the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company of New York City. During World War I she came under the control of the United States Shipping Board, and the United States Army chartered her on 15 October 1917 to haul Army cargo during World War I. The U.S. Navy acquired Cauto from the Shipping Board for World War I service on 12 July 1918, assigned her the naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.) 1538, and commissioned as USS Cauto on 13 July 1918.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Cauto was outfitted for naval service at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between 21 July 1918 and 9 February 1919, Cauto made three round-trip transatlantic voyages between the United States and France, carrying supplies for the American Expeditionary Force in France.

Cauto was decommissioned at Philadelphia on 22 February 1919 and transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company. Once again SS Cauto, she resumed civilian service, operating commercially until wrecked in 1937.