Attached to Eastern Squadron, North Atlantic Fleet, she cruised in the West Indies during the Spanish–American War on blockade duty and convoying Army transports.

From 17 December 1899 to 8 August 1900, she sailed to the West Indies, the Mediterranean, through the Suez Canal to the Philippines, where she transferred men to the base at Cavite, returning to the United States by the same route.

Another training cruise was made from 29 September 1900 to 28 February 1901, during which she visited the Azores, Madeira, Gibraltar, and Mediterranean ports returning by way of the West Indies and La Guaira, Venezuela, to Norfolk.

From 14 May to 6 June 1902 she was on special duty, transporting provisions and supplies for the relief of victims of the volcanic eruptions of La Soufrière, St. Vincent and Mount Pelée, Martinique in the West Indies.

She served principally as a transport on the east coast, in the Caribbean, and the Panama Canal Zone, carrying Marines, recruits for training, and drafts of men for other vessels as well as engaging in target practice for her crew and Reserves.

Assigned to the Special Service Squadron she steamed from Philadelphia 26 June 1905 to carry a party of scientists to the Mediterranean to observe the solar eclipse of 30 August.

With American entry into World War I, Dixie departed Philadelphia 31 May 1917 to join U.S. naval forces operating in European waters.