In 1913–14, she frequently patrolled the coast of Mexico to protect American interests during the Mexican Revolution, and in April 1914 she took part in the United States occupation of Veracruz.

After the United States entered World War I in April 1917, South Carolina trained sailors for the rapidly expanding wartime navy, and in late 1918, she was assigned to convoy escort duty.

The ship was powered by two-shaft vertical triple-expansion engines rated at 16,500 ihp (12,304 kW) and twelve coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers, generating a top speed of 18.5 kn (34 km/h; 21 mph).

As was standard for capital ships of the period, she carried a pair of 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, submerged in her hull on the broadside.

The ship spent most of the rest of the year conducting fleet maneuvers, training naval militia, and receiving repairs at Norfolk, Virginia.

[2] In late 1911, South Carolina was present for a naval review in New York City before conducting training exercises with the 1st Squadron off Newport, Rhode Island.

The ship then steamed south on 3 January 1912 for training exercises off Guantánamo Bay, Cuba before returning to Norfolk on 13 March.

That month, she participated in a reception for a visit by the German battlecruiser SMS Moltke and the light cruisers Bremen and Stettin in New York.

She then steamed south with the Special Service Division for a tour of the Caribbean; stops included Pensacola, New Orleans, Galveston, and Veracruz.

Another cruise off the east coast of the United States followed, and included a stop in New York from 28 to 31 May, where the USS Maine National Monument was dedicated.

On 28 January, the ship sent a contingent of Marines ashore in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to secure the American embassy during a period of unrest in the country, as well as to set up a radio station there.

The ship left Veracruz in July and spent the next several months cruising off the Dominican Republic and Haiti to monitor the political situations in the neighboring countries.

She returned to Norfolk on 24 September; by this time, World War I had broken out in Europe, though the United States initially remained neutral.

At the time, tensions between the United States and Germany were high due to the sinking of the passenger ship RMS Lusitania by a U-boat, though the Germans agreed to suspend their unrestricted submarine warfare campaign.

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany over the latter's resumption of the unrestricted submarine campaign earlier that year.

On the 17th, South Carolina lost her starboard propeller, which forced her to reduce speed to 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) using only the port shaft.

[2][3] After South Carolina returned to service, she participated in gunnery training, which continued until Germany signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the fighting in Europe.

In mid-February 1919, South Carolina began the first of four round trips between the United States and Brest, France to bring American soldiers back from Europe.

[2] In the years immediately following the end of the Great War, the United States, Britain, and Japan all launched huge naval construction programs.