On 17 July, Wilmington led the three other ships to El Guayabal, 20 mi (32 km) north of Manzanillo, Cuba, near Santa Cruz del Sur.

During the afternoon hours, the four commanding officers met in conference and formulated preliminary plans for an expedition to Manzanillo to destroy the Spanish shipping there.

At 06:45, the group split up according to plan: Wilmington and Helena made for the north channel; Hist, Hornet, and Wompatuck for the south; Scorpion and Osceola for the central harbor entrance.

Fifteen minutes later, the two largest ships entered the harbor with black smoke billowing from their tall funnels and gunners ready at their weapons.

Taking particular care not to damage the city beyond the waterfront, the American gunners directed their gunfire solely at the Spanish ships and took a heavy toll of the steamers congregated there.

Beyond the effective range of Spanish shore batteries, the Americans emerged unscathed, leaving columns of smoke to mark the pyres of the enemy's supply and patrol vessels.

The 20-minute engagement ended with the attackers withdrawing to sea to resume routine patrol duties with the North Atlantic Squadron for the duration of hostilities.

Arriving at Hampton Roads on 31 October, she put into the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on the following day for further repairs, overhaul, and preparation for foreign service.

After a brief stop at the town of Las Tablas, she put into Ciudad Bolívar on the 24th where the mayor, the American consul, and a number of city officials came on board the ship for a visit.

Calling at Pará and Manaus, Brazil, en route, the ship arrived at the Peruvian border at Leticia, Peru, on 11 April.

While numerous official calls were exchanged during the visit, the gunboat also acquired a small menagerie: three monkeys and one tiger cat which were presented to the ship by the Peruvians.

On 18 April, Wilmington departed Iquitos, headed back down stream, and reached Rio de Janeiro on 28 May, completing a 4,600 mi (7,400 km) round-trip voyage on the Amazon.

After remaining in the Uruguayan port for the days following her arrival on 22 August, she departed on 3 September, steaming by her starboard engine only, for Buenos Aires.

Subsequently, the gunboat returned to Buenos Aires, under tow from the cruiser Montgomery, and entered drydock on 3 March 1900, nearly six months after having first been crippled by the damaged propeller shaft.

Once the repairs were finally corrected after dockyard overhaul and a trial period, Wilmington continued cruising on the South American station through the summer and early fall of 1900.

While en route to Rio de Janeiro on 10 May 1900, her inclinometer recorded 45° rolls in each direction while traversing heavy, choppy seas.

Still nominally attached to the South Atlantic Fleet, she served in Chinese waters through 1904 on routine cruises showing the stars and stripes along the China coast at ports such as Shantou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.

Finally, as she steamed slowly toward the area, she fired a few blank rounds purposely "over", and the squatters promptly abandoned their erstwhile fishing vantage point.

While the gunboats Palos, Monocacy, Quiros, Samar, and Villalobos were directed to stay and be interned, Wilmington got underway on the 6th, within the stated 48-hour limit, and made for the Philippines.

On 11 July, after weeks of official calls and routine business, she was fouled by a raft of logs; and two Chinese raftsmen fell overboard into the muddy river.

On 2 June of that year, the ship departed Olongapo and set her course for the east coast of the U.S. En route, she called at Singapore; Colombo, Ceylon; Bombay and Karachi; Aden, Arabia; Port Said, Egypt; Gibraltar; and Ponta Delgada, in the Azores.

The Dover operated in the vicinity of Canso and Gaspe Bay from 18 December 1942 and put into Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Christmas Eve.

Following this duty, she put into New York, where she remained until 27 January 1943, at which date she turned her bow south and headed for the warmer climes of the gulf coast.

The Dover was then reassigned to Twelfth Naval District, at Treasure Island San Francisco, California USNR Armed Guard Center (Pacific).

Records indicate that 84 officers and 3,370 enlisted men were given refresher training in surface firing aboard the Dover in the San Francisco area.

The Dover was sold to the San Francisco Barge Company, and in early 1947 they used her to raise a sunken tug off Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard.