"[1] Intended exclusively for carrying freight, Alaskan was designed as a very strong ship with a large stowage capacity.

The Navy took control of her that same day and commissioned her on 23 March 1918 at Morse Dry Dock, Brooklyn, New York, as USS Alaskan.

Anchoring in Hampton Roads in the predawn darkness of 26 March 1918, she moved shortly thereafter to the Norfolk and Western Piers, docking there at 12:28 hours.

Alaskan called away her fire and rescue party, which aided Mexican's men in controlling the blaze before it did serious damage.

6 to take on cargo, then began her second wartime voyage in naval service on 28 July 1918, again crossing the Atlantic Ocean in a convoy.

Among the cargo she discharged was oil for the tanks at the United States Naval Aviation Station, Le Croisic, France.

She was still lying in port on 11 November 1918 when the news reached her of the signing of the armistice with Germany, an event duly celebrated by the ship's sounding her whistle and hoisting Allied flags.

Alaskan ultimately reached Newport News, via Gibraltar, on the afternoon of 29 November 1918, bringing to a close her third and final round-trip voyage under the aegis of NOTS.

Over the following weeks, she underwent a metamorphosis from cargo ship to troopship at Brooklyn by the W. A. Fletcher Shipyard under the direction of U.S. Army authorities, with the addition of troop accommodations for up to 2,260 men.

[3] Now a troop transport, Alaskan cleared New York Harbor on 24 February 1919 bound for France, and reached St. Nazaire on 10 March 1919.

Once again SS Alaskan, the ship operated under the house flag of the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company until sold to Italian interests in 1927.