Sold into merchant service in 1867 due to dissatisfaction with her machinery, Ashuelot later voyaged to Japan, operating under the names Takao and Kaiten No.

[1] Her two-cylinder oscillating engine, built by New York's Novelty Iron Works, drove a single 8-foot (2.4 m) diameter screw propeller.

[1] In April 1866, Ashuelot played a role in the thwarting of an armed raid on Campobello Island, New Brunswick, by a group of about 700 members of the Fenian Brotherhood who had gathered in Maine for the purpose.

The raiders were "sorely discouraged" after Ashuelot intercepted the brig Prey, which was loaded with ammunition and a large quantity of weapons "of the finest and deadliest description" intended for use in the raid.

[1] On 15 November, Ashuelot towed the lightship for Frying Pan Shoals, North Carolina, back to its station after the latter vessel had undergone repairs at Charleston.

[7] Not long after, the Revenue Marine decided to divest itself of a number of the Pawtuxet-class cutters as their engines were deemed "too complicated".