In 1917 a German U-boat captured and scuttled her, contributing to increasing diplomatic tension that eventually led the US to declare war on Germany.

[2] Between July 1890 and January 1891, DR „Hansa“ enlarged its fleet with five new single-screw cargo ships from four different builders.

[5] Her single screw was driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 265 NHP[7] or 1,550 ihp,[8] and gave her a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h).

She left Hamburg on 17 October; called at Antwerp; and took 90 passengers and 4,500 tons of general cargo to Melbourne[10] and Sydney, reaching the latter on 22 December.

[11] On 13 January 1892 she left Sydney on her return voyage to Hamburg via Melbourne, carrying cargo that included 6,876 bales of wool.

[12] HAPAG took over DR „Hansa“ in March 1892,[6] and sent Pickhuben on her first voyage to New York on 17 April that year,[13] but thereafter she mostly reverted to the Montreal route.

Pickhuben left Hamburg on 14 September, called at Antwerp and Plymouth, and bunkered at Las Palmas.

Almost the entire crew of the sailing ship was ill, and her Second Officer had died, so Pickhuben towed Abbie S. Hart to Cape Town.

[15] On 19 November she reached Melbourne, where she collided with the 500-ton hopper barge Fawkner while the tugboat Eagle was towing her along the Coode Canal.

[15] On 17 December a court of marine inquiry in Melbourne dismissed charges against Pickhuben's Victorian pilot, and against Fawkner's Captain.

[17] Pickhuben loaded 7,344 bales of wool,[18] and in December left Sydney for Hamburg via Melbourne and Antwerp.

[6] On 24 April 1895 she sailed from Stettin in Pomerania (now Szczecin in Poland) to New York via Helsingborg and Gothenburg in Sweden, and Kristiansand in Norway.

[24] At 10:30 hrs on 3 February U-53 intercepted Housatonic about 20 nautical miles (37 km) southwest of Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly.

U-53's commander, Hans Rose, ordered Housatonic's US Master, Captain Thomas Ensor, to bring his ship's papers aboard the U-boat for inspection.

All 37 members of Housatonic's crew abandoned ship in two of her lifeboats: one commanded by Captain Ensor, and the other by her Chief Officer.

[29] However, U-boats sank two other US ships without loss of life: the schooner Lyman M. Law on 12 February, and steamship Algonquin on 12 March.

[33] On 21 March an explosion, caused by either a mine or a torpedo, sank the US oil tanker Healdton, killing 21 of her crew, including seven US citizens.

During the congressional debate of the proposal, news came that a U-boat had sunk Aztec, causing the death of 28 of her crew, including 11 US citizens.

After an argument as to the value of the ship, Parker found in favour of the steamship company, but awarded it only $4,500 plus five percent annual interest from the date of the sinking.