[6] In December 1919 as the vessel was nearing the end of construction West Niger was allocated to Pacific Mail Steamship Company to operate on California to the Far East route.

Upon delivery West Niger departed Los Angeles on 31 January 1920 for San Francisco where after inspection the ship was officially accepted by USSB.

[13] Upon return to San Francisco on 30 December 1920, West Niger together with many other vessels was laid up in Benicia due to overabundance of tonnage and lack of cargo.

[14] On 9 March 1923 it was reported that the vessel was taken over by Columbia Pacific Shipping Company in San Francisco, and soon left for Portland to load cargo for delivery to Japan and China.

On her westward journeys the ship transported mostly lumber and flour to the ports of Japan and North China, and on her return voyages she was loaded with oriental goods, such as hemp, copra, sugar and a variety of vegetable oils.

[21][22] In early April 1926 West Niger came to aid of steamer Wheatland Montana of the Admiral Oriental Line who lost a propeller in a 60 mph (97 km/h) gale halfway between Seattle and Japan.

After about two weeks of towing, approximately 700 miles from the Puget Sound, West Niger was relieved by another Admiral Oriental Line steamer, SS City of Spokane and was able to resume voyage to her destination.

Nevada departed Astoria for her last journey on September 16, 1932 bound for Yokohama carrying full cargo of lumber, flour and general merchandise.

The trip was largely uneventful until September 27, when at approximately 20:00 in foggy weather the freighter suddenly ran aground at full speed on the eastern tip of Amatignak Island.

signal which was picked up by Japanese steamer Oregon Maru located nearby, and American liner President Madison approximately 500 miles away from the site of the wreck.

In the meantime, the crew tried to launch lifeboats, but due to high surf and strong winds it was nearly impossible to do, as the waves kept crushing over the ship.

Their attempts to save the survivors were unsuccessful as due to fog, gale and heavy seas they were not able to reach the shore, losing one lifeboat in the process.

President Madison arrived around noon the next day and after a four hour struggle was able to launch a lifeboat that reached the island and took off three survivors and transferred them on board the liner.