She was launched 15 August 1904, by Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co., Morris Heights, New York; sponsored by Miss M. Tredway.

[1] Dubuque cruised from her home port of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in Atlantic coastal waters and in the Caribbean protecting American interests and citizens, a group of whom she saved from depredations by Cuban bandits on the night of 18–19 May 1907.

She was fitted out as a mine-training ship and on 30 July 1915 she returned to a fully commissioned status and was assigned to Mining and Minesweeping Division, Atlantic Fleet.

She participated in training along the Atlantic coast and after American entry into World War I in April 1917, she installed and tended submarine nets in Hampton Roads and at New London, Connecticut.

Assigned to temporary duty with the Cruiser and Transport Force, Dubuque made three voyages between New York and Halifax, Nova Scotia, as a convoy escort between 6 June and 14 July 1917.