She was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for American-Hawaiian, and was employed in inter-coastal service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Panama Canal after it opened.

Returned to American-Hawaiian in 1919, Minnesotan resumed inter-coastal cargo service, and, at least twice, carried racing yachts from the U.S. East Coast to California.

The construction was financed by Maryland Steel with a credit plan that called for a 5% down payment in cash with nine monthly installments for the balance.

This loss of access, coupled with the fact that the Panama Canal was not yet open, caused American-Hawaii to return in late April to its historic route of sailing around South America via the Straits of Magellan.

[13] In October 1915, landslides closed the Panama Canal and all American-Hawaiian ships, including Minnesotan, returned to the Straits of Magellan route again.

She may also have been in the group of American-Hawaiian ships chartered for service to South America, delivering coal, gasoline, and steel in exchange for coffee, nitrates, cocoa, rubber, and manganese ore.[15] On 11 September 1917, some five months after the United States declared war on Germany, the United States Army chartered Minnesotan for transporting animals to Europe in support of the American Expeditionary Force.

[6] Although there is no information about the specific conversion of Minnesotan, for other ships this typically meant that passenger accommodations had to be ripped out and replaced with ramps and stalls for the horses and mules carried.

After making port at Norfolk on 3 January 1919, the cargo ship sailed for New York, where she was inspected and found to be suitable for use as a troop transport.

George W. Cooper, historian of the 2nd Battalion of the 111th Infantry, reported that even though the fighting had been over for some five months, the fear of striking floating mines necessitated that the men wear life jackets for the first three days at sea.

[19] On her next journey, Minnesotan loaded some 2,000 men of the 304th Ammunition Train and the U.S. 24th Infantry Division,[20] for what turned out to be a rough passage with widespread seasickness.

[17] By 15 August, Minnesotan had entered dry dock at the Philadelphia Navy Yard to prepare for decommissioning,[23] which took place six days later.

Though the company had abandoned its original Hawaiian sugar routes by this time,[25] Minnesotan continued inter-coastal service through the Panama Canal.

In March 1928, for example, the newspaper reported that Minnesotan sailed from Los Angeles with a $2,500,000 cargo that included raw silk and 1,000 long tons (1,000 t) of copper bullion.

[36] In September 1941, Minnesotan played a peripheral part in a larger protest by union sailors over war bonuses for sailing in the West Indies.

[37] Roosevelt's admonition was heeded and both unions ended their strike after the National Mediation Board agreed to address the wartime bonus dispute.

[40] By January 1941, Minnesotan, though still operated by American-Hawaiian, was engaged in defense work for the U.S. government, sailing to ports in South Africa.

From July 1942 to April 1943, Minnesotan sailed between New York and Caribbean ports, calling at Trinidad, Key West, Hampton Roads, Guantánamo Bay, and Cristóbal.

[42] On 29 December, Minnesotan, loaded with a general cargo that included machinery and explosives,[44] sailed as part of convoy HX 273 from New York for Liverpool.

Her last recorded World War II sailings were from New York to Key West, Guantánamo Bay, and Cristóbal, where she arrived in late July 1944.