 She was a 1,598 ton vessel (originally 1,200 tons), 252 feet (77 m) in length.In 1897, "Valencia" was deliberately attacked by the Spanish cruiser "Reina Mercedes" off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.The next year, she became a coastal passenger liner on the U.S. West Coast and served periodically in the Spanish–American War as a troopship to the Philippines.