As IX-28 she also served as a schoolship for the training of Naval Reservists, and, at the end of World War II, just before being struck from the Navy records, she was temporarily assigned as a barracks ship for torpedo boat crews.
14) was laid down on 11 April 1896 at San Francisco, California, by the Union Iron Works; launched on 18 March 1897; sponsored by Miss Lucie S. Brown; and commissioned on 10 August 1897.
In the spring of 1899, the gunboat was ordered to the Far East to reinforce the American fleet supporting operations to suppress the Philippine–American War.
When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in March 1900, Wheeling departed the Philippine Islands to patrol the northern coast of China.
She and ships of European navies with similar missions spent most of their time at Taku, essentially the port city for Tientsin and Peking.
The gunboat operated at Mare Island until the beginning of 1902, at which time she received orders to American Samoa for duty as station ship.
From that time until midyear 1904, the gunboat cruised the Samoan group—erecting signal installations, performing survey work, and transporting passengers between the islands.
Departing the west coast on 17 June, Wheeling sailed via Yokohama, Japan, and Singapore to the southern terminus of the Suez Canal.
After transiting the canal, she steamed westward across the Mediterranean Sea, stopping at Genoa, Italy, and at the British colony at Gibraltar.
Following voyage repairs, the gunboat embarked upon almost six years of duty patrolling the troubled waters of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico.
Wheeling remained in port six days and then sailed to Carmen, Mexico, where she anchored from 25 to 29 June and took on board more displaced Americans.
The gunboat joined United States Army transport Sumner at Vera Cruz on 29 June 1916 and transferred her passengers to that ship.
Between 9 October and 16 December 1916, Wheeling returned to the waters off Vera Cruz to provide naval gunfire support to Army units operating ashore against Mexican bandits.
The damage forced her return to the United States for repairs, and she entered the New York Navy Yard on 11 August.
For the remainder of the war, she operated out of Gibraltar escorting convoys between that place, Bizerte in North Africa, and Genoa in Italy.
On 11 May, the convoy she was escorting lost one ship, SS Susette Fraisinette, to a torpedo fired by UB-52, which, in turn, was later sunk by the British submarine H-4 while attempting to return to her base at Cattaro.
At about 2016, the American warship witnessed a flash, then heard a report, to her port side, as UB-50's torpedo slammed into SS Mavisbrook.
Unknown to the gunboat, UB-50 also scored a hit on SS Elswick Grange, but the English steamer succeeded in making port under her own power.
Upon arrival, Wheeling learned that severe damage had forced one of the two submarines which had attacked the convoy, U-39, to intern herself at Cartagena, Spain.
Wheeling was in Gibraltar on 11 November when the armistice was signed; and, 19 days later, she left that port and headed for Lisbon, Portugal, where she anchored on 2 December.