The freighter had her machinery situated amidships and had four main holds, both fore and aft, which allowed for the carriage of variety of goods and merchandise.

[3] Upon acceptance by USSB the ship was allocated to Alexander Sprunt & Son, major North Carolina cotton trader, for service to United Kingdom.

On 1 May 1920 the freighter sailed from Wales for Béni Saf where she loaded full cargo of iron ore and delivered it to Baltimore on June 9.

[9] On her next transatlantic trip Lakeside Bridge first sailed from Baltimore in ballast for Port Hastings where she loaded 4,200 tons of coal and departed for Kristiania on 29 July 1920.

The freighter reached her destination two weeks later and after unloading returned in ballast to Norfolk in mid-September successfully completing another journey.

On Christmas night while approximately 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) southeast of the island of Pico Lakeside Bridge suddenly lost all blades of her propeller.

Meanwhile, the crew used canvas hatch cover to create a makeshift sail in an attempt to exert some sort of control of the ship.

Lines were thrown ashore and the entire crew was able to quickly abandon ship with the help of breeches buoy and assisting locals.

The entire crew departed the Azores on 6 January 1921 on board steamer SS Andalusia and safely arrived in New York two weeks later.