The vessel was laid down at Northumberland Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Howdon and launched on 6 March 1901 (yard number 89),[2][3] and after successful completion of sea trials on July 20, during which the ship could easily attain speed of 11.5 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h), Queen Cristina was handed over to her owners and sailed for New York.

The ship left Singapore on December 26 for Calcutta to load a cargo of jute and departed from India on January 25, 1902 for her return trip to the United States, reaching New York on March 15, 1902.

[10] Queen Cristina was subsequently chartered by the American & Australian Line to deliver general cargo to Australia, and departed New York on December 19, 1902.

After an uneventful journey the ship arrived at her destination on October 4, bringing on board also two Cingalese young women to matriculate at the Folt Missionary College.

[19] Afterward the ship sailed to Rotterdam to load cargo for transportation to Chile via the ports on the west coast of South America, and departed for her voyage on January 6, 1907.

A strong current present near the coast carried the ship closer to the shore and at around 01:40 on October 21 Queen Cristina struck on North Seal Rock, about eight miles northwest of Crescent City, close to a place where another steamer, Brother Jonathan, foundered earlier.

The ship started to take on water immediately, and captain Harris ordered to lower the lifeboats and 16 men were able to board them around 07:30 and row towards Crescent City to seek help, reaching it at around 10:45.

As the water reached between the decks, everyone remaining was forced to abandon ship at 12:30 and were subsequently found and picked up from the lifeboats by the steamer Navarro which sailed from Crescent City upon hearing the news of the disaster.

[23] The captain and the crew stayed in Crescent City for about a week and were brought down to San Francisco by two steam schooners, Mandalay and Del Norte on November 1.

[24] An investigation held at the British Consulate in San Francisco found that the vessel's compass developed a discrepancy of 14 degrees prior to departure, but given the adjustments made by the crew, the court decided this to be of no consequence.

The court found that between 20:00 on October 20 and the time of grounding, no attempt was made to verify the course of the vessel or measure depth despite the presence of the thick fog.

Even though the wreck was in an exposed position open to southern and southwestern storms, Queen Cristina managed to survive the winter of 1907-08 and finally was broken and sunk in January 1909.