Propulsion was provided by both a 400 hp (300 kW) steam engine driving a single propeller, and a schooner-rig of sail.

[1] Rush was built by the Atlantic Iron Works in Boston, Massachusetts, launched 14 March 1874, and commissioned 21 July of that year.

Fitting-out was completed in New York, and on 15 September the cutter sailed for San Francisco, arriving there 8 January 1875 after rounding Cape Horn.

[1] In 1882 Rush was at San Francisco where the Royal Navy corvette HMS Comus took aboard the Marquis of Lorne, Governor General of Canada, and his spouse the Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, for their trip to Victoria, Canada.

[4] An anonymous note threatened the British ship with destruction when the couple boarded, but a search by the crew of Richard Rush yielded nothing, and Comus was escorted out to sea by the American cutter.