During her career in the United States Lighthouse Service her longest assignments were at Portland, Maine, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Reflecting on her poor condition, the Board wrote, "It is probable that if she was caught in a storm, or if she touched the bottom, she would become a complete wreck".

Congress took no action to fund a replacement, so the Lighthouse Board renewed its request for a new tender in its 1889 report.

Globe Iron Works corporate secretary, Luther Allen, met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Charles Foster, previously governor of Ohio, to argue that the Lighthouse Board had not called for a joint bid and thus it would be illegal to consider the Maryland company's joint bid.

[6] U.S. Navy Commander Charles V. Gridley was sent to Cleveland to oversee the construction of the two ships for the Lighthouse Board.

In attendance at the launch were Commander George W. Coffin, Naval Secretary to the Lighthouse Board, naval architect Walfred Sylvan, who designed the ship, and Commander Frank Wildes, the District Inspector of the 1st Lighthouse District, who Lilac would serve once commissioned.

She was built with a double bottom and 12 water-tight compartments as safety measures against flooding due to accidental grounding.

[12] United States buoy tenders are traditionally named for trees, shrubs, and flowering plants.

Lilac was used to deliver food, water, wood, coal, lantern fuel, and other supplies to lighthouses.

[32] Lilac was part of the naval review on the Hudson River during the dedication of Grant's Tomb in New York City on 27 April 1897.

[34] In December 1910, Lilac towed the three-masted schooner Mary Curtis from a dangerous position among the breakers off Two Bush Island, Maine, likely saving her from destruction.

[39] For instance, in October 1911, Lilac carried a cargo of sand and gravel to the Isle of Shoals light to be used in the construction of a new fog signal, a job that would have been done by the District Engineer's tender in the previous organization.

Lilac sailed to New York for extensive repairs, including replacing hull plates that had rusted nearly through.

[48] Lilac was laid-up for portions of fiscal year 1915 and 1916 due to a lack of funding for crew salaries.

The 9th District encompassed Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands,[51] and other United States possessions in the West Indies.

[53] After the war, on 1 July 1919,[54] the components of the Lighthouse Service which had become part of the Navy were returned to the supervision of the Department of Commerce.

The patrol boat USS May ran aground off Cape Engano, in the Dominican Republic on 27 July 1919.

[56] USS Grebe was towing the Army Corps of Engineers dredge Captain Houston from Saint Thomas to San Juan when she broke down on 10 May 1923.

She was bound for Norfolk, but stopped along the way to work on lighthouses in Mayaguez, Navassa Island, and Guantanamo, Cuba.

Heading north, she made stops at Key West, Mayport, and Charleston before reaching Norfolk on 20 October 1924.

[63] On 8 April 1925 Lilac was sold for $7,850 to a person identifying himself as Joseph H. Riley, who gave his address as a hotel in Baltimore.

[65] Her new job was to smuggle liquor into the United States during prohibition, masquerading as a Lighthouse Service vessel.

Elma had become part of the bootlegging syndicate run by Charles and Cecil Kinder, and DeWitt Turner.

[66] Cecil Kinder testified that he was aboard Elma when she ran from Halifax to Chicago with a load of liquor.

Manning towed Elma to Norfolk, but after consulting with legal authorities moved her to North Carolina which had jurisdiction on the smuggling charges since its waters were where the ship had been found.

[74] The U.S. District Court judge overseeing the matter, Isaac M. Meekins, took bids for the ship in November 1926.

Under the rules pertaining to the sale of vessels seized by the government, a 10% higher bid after the fact reopened the process.

[78] She returned to legitimate trade, carrying passengers and freight for the Linton Steamship Lines of New York.

[83] In July 1927 Linton went in search of a larger vessel and ultimately purchased Princess Montague, which had capacity for 125 first class passengers.

After one voyage, Elma unloaded 50 tons of flour, fertilizer, furniture, and lubricants at Port Everglades.