Apache was built in 1889 as the commercial tug J. D. Jones by A. C. Brown at Tottenville, Staten Island, in New York City.

The U.S. Navy purchased J. D. Jones from the Merritt and Chapman Wrecking Company on 24 May 1898 for service in the Spanish–American War.

She arrived at Hampton Roads on 22 August 1898, and service there and at Norfolk, Virginia, occupied her time until 24 September 1898, when she was decommissioned.

In 1900, Apache was moved north to New York where she was refitted for service as a freight lighter at the ordnance magazine at Iona Island on the western side of the Hudson River about five nautical miles (9.25 kilometers) south of West Point, New York.

On 15 July 1904 she sank the tug Henry D. McCord ( United States) in a collision off Pier 5 in the East River.