Thompson and Sons of Sunderland as yard number 257; launched on 25 October as Culgoa; and completed on 4 January 1890.

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 419 NHP[6] and gave her a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).

[7] By 1896, Blue Anchor had refrigerating equipment installed in 43,058 cubic feet (1,219 m3) of Culgoa's holds to carry perishable cargo.

Culgoa made three voyages to Sydney, New South Wales and Brisbane, Queensland, for fresh stores in 1900 and 1901.

[4] On 21 January 1900, the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company coaster Airlie grounded on a reef at Chapman Island, Queensland.

Culgoa, en route from Manila to Sydney, rescued Airlie's mail and 32 passengers, and landed them at Townsville.

On 22 July 1901, Culgoa left Cavite and sailed via Ceylon, the Suez Canal, Malta, and Gibraltar to New York, arriving on 25 September.

[12] On the evening of 9 November 1904, Culgoa accidentally rammed the schooner Wilson and Hunting about 10 nautical miles (19 km) off Barnegat Lighthouse, New Jersey.

)[16] The capsized schooner stayed afloat and drifted landwards, and two of the steamship's boats searched for more survivors, but found none.

[17] Culgoa supplied ships and shore stations in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico until 11 August 1905, when she was decommissioned again.

[4] She was loaned to the Panama Canal Railway, and on 21 September 1907 left New York carrying an emergency shipment of 500 tons of beef.

On the cruise, while on a planned supply run, she carried naval artist Henry Reuterdahl, who painted a number of scenes of the expedition.

At Amoy (Xiamen) in China, and in the Taiwan Strait between 28 October and 5 November 1908, she helped to establish wireless communications with the Second Squadron.

[22] In November 1916, she struck a submerged obstruction off Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic,which caused her to lose her propeller.

[23] In February 1918, Culgoa was then transferred to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service for the remainder of World War I.

[4] Culgoa issued stores and provisions to Battle Squadron 2 at Guantanamo Bay from 24 March to 6 April 1920, then after supplying shore installations at Yorktown and Philadelphia, she left Brooklyn on 2 June for fleet maneuvers in the Pacific.

She returned to New York on 3 September 1920 for overhaul, and resumed supply operations on the East Coast and in the Caribbean from February to October 1921.