Constructed at San Francisco, California, by Union Iron Works, the ship was chartered by the United States Navy from her original owners, the Pan American Petroleum & Transport Co., on 23 August 1918; and commissioned at New York City the same day.

1560, George G. Henry departed New York on 29 August 1918, bound for European waters carrying aviation gasoline and Army medical stores.

After discharging that cargo at Le Havre, France, the tanker touched at Spithead and Plymouth, England, before setting out across the Atlantic on her way back to the east coast of the United States.

At 08:50 on 29 September, George G. Henry sighted the German submarine U-152 on the surface, 5,000 yards off her port beam, went to general quarters, and opened fire at once with her forward gun.

George G. Henry's gunners at the after mount managed to hurl 21 rounds at the enemy, landing several shells close aboard and forcing the surfaced submarine to maneuver radically.

While flames enveloped the fantail, George G. Henry steered to bring her forward gun to bear while damage control parties fought the fires aft.

Shortly after midnight on 3 October 1918, about 110 miles (180 km) east of Cape Sable, she made an emergency turn to avoid an oncoming convoy, but to no avail.

The latter's bow rose perpendicularly, slipped back and crushed George G. Henry's port rail, hung suspended in the air for a few fleeting moments, and then slid off into the sea.

After repairs at Shewen's Dry Dock, Brooklyn, New York, George G. Henry shifted to Bayonne, New Jersey, where she loaded a cargo of ammunition, gasoline, and military stores between 7 and 11 November.

George G. Henry made three peacetime voyages to French ports – Le Havre, Rouen, Pauillac, Furt, and Blaye – carrying cargoes of oil from New York and Louisiana.

In July 1940 — due to the restrictions of the Neutrality Act – the ship was sold to the Panama Transport Co., a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey, and continued operating under Panamanian registry.

She touched at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, to top off her own fuel bunkers and then pushed on to the Philippines, reaching Manila on 29 June, a little over two months out of New York.

In fact, as the tanker steamed toward Manila during the first few days of December 1941, Japanese invasion forces were already headed toward their jump-off points — their arrival timed to coincide with a diversionary strike to be launched against the ships of the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii.

Oblivious to those events, George G. Henry arrived at Manila on 4 December 1941 with a cargo of 69,550 barrels (11,058 m3) of oil that had been taken on board at Palembang, Java, and at Tanjong Oeban, on Bintang Island, near Singapore.

On that day, she lay anchored in Manila Bay when Japanese planes came over just after noon and bombed the Cavite Navy Yard, almost erasing it from the face of the map.

When she finally received those orders, the tanker proceeded to the south entrance of Surabaya Harbor, directly through unswept areas of minefields laid by the Dutch Navy.

Convoyed by USS Boise, Pope and John D. Ford — as well as by two submarines and the destroyer tender Black Hawk — the tanker reached Port Darwin, Australia, on 6 January 1942.

George G. Henry remained at Port Darwin into early February, fueling ships of the Asiatic Fleet and, upon occasion, Australian naval vessels.

Among her American customers were Langley, Tulsa, Lark, Heron, Alden, Barker, Bulmer, John D. Ford, Parrott, Peary, Pope, and William B. Preston.

Classified as AO-46, Victoria was fitted out for service at Mort's Dock and Engineering Co. (Chapman's Branch) under the supervision of Royal Australian Naval authorities at Garden Island.

Subsequently, Victoria, the Australian ammunition ship RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) Yunnan, and APc-22 departed Milne Bay on 2 September, bound for Porlock Harbor, New Guinea.

Victoria — no stranger to danger — remained at Porlock continuously for over two months, in an undefended harbor, in company with Yunnan, providing advance logistics base services.

At other times, men in Victoria could see the anti-aircraft fire blossoming in the skies over Oro Bay, 40 miles (64 km) away, and could hear the explosion of ordnance.

An Army Air Corps P-38 Lightning from the 475th Fighter Group, 431st squadron went down nearby, and her pilot, 2nd Lt. John J. Durkin, USAAF, ditched into the water near the ship.

During her time at Humboldt Bay, she fueled such ships as USS Nashville, Phoenix, Boise, as well as the Australian heavy cruisers Australia and Shropshire and numerous destroyers attached to those task forces.

After refueling Task Group (TG) 78.6 off Biak, New Guinea, on 28 January 1945, Victoria resumed her routine fueling operations at Mios Woendi, duties she discharged through mid-April 1945.

Proceeding independently for Hollandia on 19 April, Victoria reached her destination the next day, turning over cargo to the tanker Arayat (IX-134) and taking on stores that had accumulated for the ship at that port.

The ship then loaded a full cargo and – under orders from Commander, Service Force, 7th Fleet – departed Seeadler Harbor on 22 August, bound for the Philippines.

Taking the "Great Circle Route" north of Mindanao, Kure, and Rivella Gigardo Islands, Victoria participated in an air-sea rescue operation a week after leaving Manila.

Decommissioned on 14 December 1945 and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) of the Maritime Commission simultaneously, Victoria was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946.