West Avenal was launched in October 1918 by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco, California, and delivered to the US Navy when she was completed in February 1919.

Though little is available regarding West Avenal's civilian career, she is known from contemporary news account to have visited ports in Spain, Italy, France, Brazil and Uruguay in the early 1920s.

Later vessels of the same type built by WPS for the USSB were powered by much more reliable Joshua Hendy triple expansion steam engines, and had considerably longer service lives.

[3] West Avenal departed Norfolk on a voyage to Leith, Scotland on 9 April 1919, but was forced to return to port after suffering an engine breakdown.

Following repairs, she made several voyages between the East Coast of the United States and various destinations in South America, Spain, France and England.

Departing New York in a dense fog on the morning of 9 January 1920 for Antwerp, Lacastrian rammed into the port side of West Avenal, which was inbound with a load of onions from Valencia, Spain.

During his travels, West Avenal had departed the US on 27 August and called at Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Rio de Janeiro (where the ship arrived on 24 September)[Note 1] Santos in Brazil; and Montevideo, Uruguay.