Des Moines was launched on 20 September 1902 at the Fore River Ship and Engine Company, Quincy, Massachusetts, sponsored by Miss Elsie Macomber; and commissioned on 5 March 1904.

[4] In June and July 1904 Des Moines cruised in the West Indies, and on 29 August cleared Boston for duty with the European Squadron, visiting ports in France, England, Ireland, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Italy before her arrival at Barbados on 11 December to join the North Atlantic Fleet.

She joined in exercises, gave passage to officials and Marines, and took part in ceremonial observances, chief among which were the interment of John Paul Jones at Annapolis in April 1906, and the Naval Review for President Theodore Roosevelt in Oyster Bay in September 1906.

[citation needed] Between 15 April 1910 and 23 January 1911, Des Moines cruised the coast of Africa, gathering information about commercial and political conditions, and called at the Canaries, Lisbon, Cádiz, and Gibraltar.

Returned to full commission on 3 September 1912, she sailed to the Caribbean to observe and report conditions in the island countries and Central America, and to protect American citizens from political turmoil.