Monterey was a cargo schooner-rigged steamer built in 1897 by the Palmer's Ship Building & Iron Co of Jarrow for Elder, Dempster & Co. of Liverpool to serve on their cross-Atlantic routes.

In mid-1890s Elder, Dempster & Co. placed an order for six vessels of approximate 8,000 deadweight to run on their Dominion Line between Canadian ports of Montreal and Quebec and Bristol.

[3][2][4] After successful completion of sea trials on May 25, 1898, during which the ship attained maximum speed over 13+1⁄4 knots (15.2 mph; 24.5 km/h), she was transferred to her owners and immediately departed for Montreal at 17:00 local time.

[6] After spending four days in port she left Montreal on June 9 with 8,400 tons of general cargo composed of large quantities of corn, wheat, flour and other foodstuffs in addition to 490 heads of cattle and 68 horses.

[15] On October 1, 1899 she arrived at Queenstown and landed six passengers, chief engineer, twenty one crew and four stowaways from the Scotsman which wrecked at Belle Isle September 21.

[16] Following the closure of summer navigation on St. Lawrence River, Monterey was reassigned to the Beaver Line and commenced carrying mails and cargo between the ports of Liverpool and Halifax starting on November 18.

On January 31, 1900 it was reported that Monterey was chartered along with several other vessels to transport Lord Strathcona's Canadian contingent to South Africa to reinforce the British forces during the Second Boer War.

For example, on November 10, 1900 she left New Orleans for Havre and London via Norfolk carrying a large cargo of lumber, 40,000 bushels of wheat and 10,050 bales of cotton.

During the 1902-1903 winter season the steamer was supposed to continue operating between Bristol and St. John's, however, Monterey did not sail until January 8, 1903 departing Barry with a cargo of 5,500 tons of coal for Philadelphia.

At about this time Canadian Pacific Railway was finalizing their negotiations with Elder, Dempster Shipping about acquiring several of their steamers to complete their cross-Atlantic, United Kingdom to Canada, service.

After unloading, she took on board her usual cargo, consisting of 1,043 heads of cattle, 88,115 bushels of wheat, large quantities of cheese, butter, flour, lumber etc.

At about 04:50 the second mate suddenly spotted breakers ahead and ordered the engines reversed but it was too late, as the ship went aground on the rocks about a quarter mile south of Plate Point lighthouse on the island of Petite Miquelon and got stuck.

Most of the livestock was successfully transferred to the mainland by July 18, however, about 200 to 300 heads climbed the hills and escaped into the wild, wandering around the island for several months after the disaster.

Due to the fact that the ship was badly damaged at the bottom, she was quickly abandoned and the salvage operation instead concentrated on stripping off as much valuable equipment as possible from the steamer.

An inquiry was held into the wreck on November 28, 1903 and as a result captain Williams had his certificate suspended for six month for failure to verify the position of the ship, and continuing at full speed in thick fog.

[31] Aside from that, the cause of the disaster was also attributed to the strong undercurrent present around the island of Miquelon, that captain Williams was unaware of at the time of the incident, that carried the vessel too far north off her course.