Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Mars departed Norfolk on 6 January 1910 for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, for fueling operations in the Caribbean.

On 8 May 1914, Mars recommissioned and departed six days later for Vera Cruz to support fleet action off Mexico following the arrest of a U.S. Navy shore party in April.

She departed with supplies on 24 July for the first of three voyages from the east coast to Balboa, Canal Zone, ending at Baltimore, Maryland on 9 April 1916.

Assigned to the newly established Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) on 9 January 1918, Mars made four cruises to the Mediterranean between 1 April 1919 and 25 November 1921, when she retired to Hampton Roads, Virginia.

Mars decommissioned on 27 December 1921, was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 26 April 1923, and sold to Mr. John E. Walsh, Boston, Massachusetts on 22 June.