In that context, the San Francisco Call, October 28, 1912, states that Metha Nelson had arrived from Kodiak (Alaska) with a load of Salmon barrels and halibut in tons.

[29] She was soon part of more movie productions, e.g. at The Painted Woman (Fox Film Corporation, 1932) with Spencer Tracy, as William Boyton's ship Southern Cross.

[29] Later, she appeared in the movies Treasure Island (1934),[30] Captain Blood (1935),[31] as well as in Rulers of the Sea (1939)[32] and, as the historic ship Tonquin, in This Woman Is Mine (1941).

[34] In 1938, MGM rented out Metha Nelson to a party including the celebrity lady Dorothy Cadwell Dentice di Frasso and mobster Bugsy Siegel who undertook an unsuccessful treasure hunt on Cocos Island (Costa Rica).

[35] Metha Nelson was purchased by the US Navy from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on June 11, 1942, converted by the Craig Shipyard, Long Beach, California, and placed on service September 25, 1943.

Charged with the identification of all ships trafficking in and out of Los Angeles, she lay in coastal waters off the city for the duration of her naval service, also acting as "pilots' boarding house".

San Pedro News Pilot (Los Angeles) reported in 1947 that the owner, Jack Luden, planned to return Metha Nelson to lumber trade with Mexico.