Assigned the naval registry identification number 3513, she was commissioned the same day as USS M. J. Scanlon (ID-3513) at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

On 26 September 1918, M. J. Scanlon steamed to Norfolk, Virginia, where she loaded a cargo of United States Army supplies.

In mid-October 1918, she departed Norfolk and steamed to New York City to join a convoy to Europe.

She discharged her cargo at St. Nazaire, then took on ballast and coal at Brest, France, early in December 1918.

On 9 January 1943, during World War II, Minotaur was torpedoed and sunk off Surinam by the German submarine U-124 with the loss of six lives.