She is notable for having been one of the ships which in 1905–06 towed the floating dry dock USS Dewey from the United States via the Suez Canal to the Philippines.

[3] Caesar sailed from Lambert's Point, Virginia on 1 June 1898 laden with coal for the North Atlantic Squadron then blockading Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War.

Sailing via the Suez Canal, Caesar brought cargo to ships taking part in the Philippine–American War, and helped to establish bases in the new US territory.

She then joined the stores ship Glacier, collier Brutus, and tug Potomac in towing the floating dry dock Dewey via the Suez Canal to Olongapo, Luzon, a voyage that took from 28 December 1905 to 10 July 1906.

Leaving New York for the Mediterranean once more on 19 December 1916, Caesar delivered Red Cross relief supplies for Syria at Alexandria, then sailed on to Olongapo.

From May 1921 she resumed transporting coal and other supplies between the east and west coasts, and on 11 March 1922 she left Hampton Roads on her last voyage.

After carrying cargo through the Panama Canal to Tutuila, American Samoa, she went to Mare Island Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned on 11 June and sold on 22 December.

[3] The Coastwise Steamship and Barge Company of Canada bought Caesar, renamed her Mogul and registered her in Victoria, British Columbia.