[3] Laid down between 1917 and 1919, construction was completed in the early 1920s after which both ships were employed to project US naval power across several different theaters, including Central America and the Pacific, during the interwar years.

In 1913, the General Board began preparing design requirements for the next gunboat, scheduled for the 1914 fiscal year; the board planned a vessel that had half the endurance of Sacramento—2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) instead of 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)—a reduction that would afford the weight of a fourth gun.

By April 1913, funding could not be secured for a gunboat in 1914, so the board requested it be built the following year, but now asked for an armament of six 5 in (130 mm) guns.

In October 1915, the design was finalized for what would be the gunboat of 1917; suggestions were solicited from Sacramento's commander now that he had experience with the vessel in service.

Steam for the turbine was provided by three coal-fired Thornycroft Bureau Modified boilers, which were vented into a single funnel located amidships.

The ships' propulsion system was rated at 850 shaft horsepower (630 kW) and provided a top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

She was later involved in the civil strife in Nicaragua in the late 1920s during which bluejackets and marines from Tulsa helped maintain order ashore.

In May 1941, she was reassigned to the Philippines, and joined the Inshore Patrol, which guarded the littoral zone of Manila Bay.

[6] Asheville spent some time "showing the flag" in Central America and then transferred to the Middle East, forming part of the Asiatic Fleet in 1922.

The majority of her service was in escorting convoys, but she was also deployed in support of landings around Hollandia and the Wakde in New Guinea.

[6] Her 300 lb (136.08 kg) bell was placed in the Naval and Marine Corps Training Center in Tulsa, and fell from its mooring in 1953.

On 1 March 1942, Tulsa, Lark, Isabel, and Asheville sailed out of Tjilatjap, and made for Australia.

Asheville had engine difficulties during the voyage, which resulted in her being cornered and sunk by Arashi, Nowaki, and Maya on 3 March 1942, south of the island of Java, in what was Netherlands East Indies.