The vessel was constructed in 1881 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as George W. Pride and began service in San Francisco, California the same year.

With the onset of the Spanish–American War, the tugboat was acquired by the United States Navy in April 1898 and remained in service until 1927.

Vigilant was laid down in 1881 by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and completed in 1888 as the iron-hulled commercial steam screw tug George W. Pride.

[2] When the U.S. Navy instituted its modern hull number system on 17 July 1920, she was classified as a "district harbor tug" and designated YT-25.

She was stricken from the Navy List on 26 November 1927 and sold to the Cary-Davis Tug and Barge Company of Seattle, Washington, on 25 April 1928.