 Purchased on 12 May 1898—three weeks after the opening of the Spanish–American War—by the U.S. Navy at New York.She was fitted out at the New York Navy Yard for service as a collier, and was placed in commission there on 21 May 1898, Commander Eugene W. Watson in command.Following a round-trip voyage carrying coal from New York to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from 2 June – 1 July 1898, the ship departed New York on 12 October with a cargo of coal for the Hawaiian Islands.