Prior to establishment of the Superintendent's office by Commandant Leonard G. Shepard, the general layout of the vessel was left to the contractor.

[4] Hudson was the first revenue cutter designed with an all steel hull and triple expansion steam engines.

The accurate Spanish fire wounded Winslow's commanding officer and killed Ensign Worth Bagley and three crewmen.

[10] Although under fire from the Spanish guns for over thirty minutes, Hudson, commanded by First Lieutenant Frank H. Newcomb, sailed into the bay to save the disabled Winslow.

Hudson carried the bodies of those killed as well as the wounded, along with the dispatches of the squadron off Cardenas, to Havana, Cuba, arriving there on 14 May 1898.

[1][2] On 27 June 1898, President William McKinley recommended to Congress that the officers and crew of Hudson be awarded medals for their heroic actions at the Bay of Cardenas during the rescue of Winslow.

[2] On 6 April, she assisted the Collector of Customs at the Port of New York in transfer of the officers of the seized cruise liner Vaterland to Ellis Island for internment.

[2] Hudson was sent to Norfork for repairs in 1922, and to the Coast Guard Depot in Curtis Bay, Maryland in 1928; after each yard availability she returned to New York City for regular duties.