Petrel was laid down on 27 August 1887, built by the Columbia Iron Works and Dry Dock Company in Baltimore, Maryland; launched on 13 October 1888; and commissioned 10 December 1889.

In March and April 1898 Emilio Aguinaldo had meeting with Commander Edward Wood, captain of the Petrel to discuss Philippine rebel support in the upcoming Spanish–American War.

On the morning of 31 March 1901, while off Cavite in Manila Bay, Petrel suffered a fire which resulted in the death of her captain, Lieutenant Commander Jesse M. Roper.

The fire originated in the sail room, a small compartment in the bottom of the ship, adjacent to the magazine and accessible only by a hatchway from the berth deck above.

The sail room was also pitch black; the ship's electric generator had been turned off at dawn, and no other lamps would work in the harsh atmosphere of the compartment.

As the fumes grew thicker and more noxious, Roper ordered everyone out of the compartment, but one sailor, Seaman Patrick Toner, did not emerge from the room.

McKean, with a rope around his waist, was next into the sail room, followed by Private Louis F. Theis of the ship's Marine Corps detachment and Seaman Thomas Cahey.

As McKean searched in the darkness for the two men still missing, Lieutenant Commander Roper and Cadet Lewis, the ship's generator finally came back online.

During World War I Petrel became stranded on a South American island while hunting for submarines after the wireless communications were swept overboard during a storm.