[1] Saranac—under Captain Bartaby—was carrying 1,640 short tons (1,490 t) of coal from Newcastle, New South Wales, to Iloilo, for Admiral Dewey's fleet.

The gunboats' task was primarily to protect American lives and property in China, especially American-flagged vessels operating on the Yangtze River.

She returned to Manila in April 1917, and then patrolled off Mariveles, Bataan, and Corregidor Island until the end of the war.

As a member of the Yangtze River Patrol Elcano was involved in numerous skirmishes with Chinese warlords and pirates.

On 24 March 1927, Elcano shelled the base of Socony Hill in Nanking to protect the American Consul General and others who were being besieged there.

In November 1927, Elcano became a receiving ship at Shanghai for American sailors arriving to man the new gunboats that the Navy was building for service with the Patrol.