[2] She was powered by a 2,181 horsepower triple expansion steam engine and utilized a coal fired high pressure boiler which allowed a top speed of 17 knots.

[2][7] Manning served during the Spanish–American War with the U.S. Navy during the period 24 March 1898 to 17 August 1898, while based out of Norfolk, Virginia, as a coastal patrol vessel.

During the 1905 Bering Sea cruise, the crew of Manning distributed boxes of clothing to natives of Attu and Atka that were provided by the Women's National Relief Association and during a second trip delivered more boxes of clothes donated by a Seattle, Washington hardware store to a warehouse at Dutch Harbor so that other cutters on the patrol could deliver them to other settlements.

[14] Patrol work was cut short during the 1907 season when Manning struck an uncharted rock in Prince William Sound 15 August.

[20] Typical of a patrol season in the Bering Sea, in 1910 Manning had sailed nearly 15,000 mi (24,000 km) and boarded 14 Japanese sealers that had entered the three mile limit.

[23] In October 1912, Manning received orders to report to Mare Island Naval Shipyard for drydock repairs which were completed in March 1913.

On 6 April 1917 Manning once again became part of the U.S. Navy for service in World War I and served as one of the components of Squadron 2, Division 6 of the Atlantic Fleet Patrol Forces.

[25] On 30 July 1917, Manning along with the cutters Algonquin, Ossipee, Seneca, Tampa, and Yamacraw were ordered to be outfitted for "distant service" in an unspecified region.

The six cutters were outfitted with 3-inch guns and depth charge racks and were assigned duty as convoy escorts based at Gibraltar.

[5] The six cutters of the squadron immediately assumed wartime duties escorting convoys between Gibraltar and the United Kingdom, and conducting antisubmarine patrols in the Mediterranean Sea.