Methven Castle was a steam iron passenger cargo ship built in 1882–1883 by Barclay, Curle & Company of Glasgow for Donald Currie & Co. with intention of serving as cargo, passenger and mail carrier on their existing route from England to South Africa. The vessel was later sold to the North American Mail Steamship Co. of Tacoma to work on their Oriental trade routes and renamed Columbia. In 1899 the ship was chartered by the United States Army to transport troops and supplies to various overseas destinations. In 1900 the Army bought out the ship placing it in service as the United States Army Transport Rosecrans but sold it two years later to Matson Navigation Company. The vessel was then converted into an oil tanker to carry oil from the West Coast to Alaska and Hawaii. Subsequently she was sold in 1905 to Associated Oil Co. to carry oil from California to various ports along the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. In January 1913 while on one of her regular trips, the ship was wrecked off the mouth of the Columbia River with the loss of almost her entire crew.

In 1882 Donald Currie & Co. decided to expand their fleet of steamers serving on their South African mail route and placed an order for two new steamers with Barclay, Curle & Co. Methven Castle was the second of these vessels and was laid down at the shipbuilder's yard in Whiteinch and launched on 19 September 1883, with Miss Maggie Gilchrist, daughter of James Gilchrist, being the sponsor. The ceremony was attended by several local dignitaries including Archibald Gilchrist, owner of Barclay, Curle & Co. and his son James.

Similar to many other vessels built for the Castle Line the ship was a three-deck type and had a large forecastle housing the crew. Methven Castle had her bridgehouse amidships built around the boilers and machinery. Passenger accommodations and amenities were located aft in deckhouses, and the vessel also possessed a large number of lifeboats. The ship was constructed with a possibility of her being called into Navy service with all three decks being built to be able to carry guns. The ship was also equipped with several steam winches capable to quickly load and unload cargoes from her holds.

As built, the ship was 335.0 feet (102.11 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 38.2 feet (11.64 m) abeam, and had a depth of 27.2 feet (8.29 m). Methven Castle was originally assessed at 2,681 GRT and 1,740 NRT and had deadweight of approximately 4,000. The vessel had an iron hull and a single 246 Nhp inverted direct-acting compound engine, with cylinders of 36-inch (91 cm) and 68-inch (170 cm) diameter with a 48-inch (120 cm) stroke, that drove a single screw propeller and moved the ship at up to 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h).

Following delivery and inspection, the ship sailed from Glasgow to London and after loading continued to Dartmouth. Methven Castle sailed out from that port on 15 December 1883 bound for South Africa via Madeira. After an uneventful journey the ship reached Cape Town on 10 January 1884. The steamer left South Africa on 20 February and returned to London on 22 March, successfully concluding her maiden voyage. Due to her fairly small size compared to other vessels plying between England and South Africa, the steamer was used very sparingly during the first five years of her career. Typically, the ship served various ports of the Cape Colony such as Cape Town and Mossel Bay and occasionally proceeded further to Natal. Starting in 1888 she was put on a regular schedule to South Africa and the service was further expanded to also cover Madagascar and Mauritius. Additionally, in compliance with the Castle Line mail contract obligations, Methven Castle also made occasional stops at Ascension Island and Saint Helena on her way down to South Africa. The ship continued serving this route through the end of 1896. The vessel arrived at London from her last trip from South Africa on 2 February 1897, and after unloading continued on to Glasgow where she were to be laid up. While there the vessel was sold to Sir William G. Pearce via his representative W.M. Rhodes (future director of the Fairfield Shipbuilding Co.) for subsequent transfer to Northern Pacific Line. The vessel was then chartered for one trip to the Orient and proceeded to Cardiff for loading and departed it on 29 March 1897 bound for Nagasaki with a cargo of 3,400 tons of coal. The vessel reached her destination at the end of May 1897 where she was renamed Columbia and transferred to her American owners. The ship then sailed to Hong Kong and after taking onboard cargo of various Oriental goods such as silk, tea and rice in addition to 120 passengers sailed for Victoria and Puget Sound ports via Yokohama. Columbia arrived at Victoria on 28 August, after a largely uneventful journey and successfully completing her first trip under new ownership.

Columbia conducted two more trips to the Far East in 1897. For example, on her third trip she carried full cargo of flour, lumber and other general cargo in addition to many passengers to China and Japan. On her return she ran into heavy gales and had her rails washed off and her rudder disabled for several hours. The vessel continued sailing on the same route through the end of August 1899. On 18 August 1899 it was reported that the U.S. Government chartered several commercial vessels, including Columbia, to transport troops and cargo to the newly acquired territories of the Philippines. Upon return from her last oriental trip Columbia proceeded down the coast to San Francisco, arriving there on 23 August. Once there, the vessel was officially chartered by the United States Army as of 25 August, at the rate of US$750 a day. After a quick check, Columbia loaded 635 officers and men of the Thirty Fourth Volunteer Regiment and sailed out for Manila on 8 September. After stopover for coaling at Hawaii, the transport continued her trip and reached her destination on 1 October. Columbia conducted one more trip to the Philippines, departing San Francisco on 30 November carrying elements of the Forty Second Regiment. Upon return in ballast from Manila on 10 February 1900, Columbia was put into quarantine for several days and then subsequently released from her charter.

Less than a month after her release Columbia was purchased by the U.S. Army for $147,200 and transferred to the Pacific Fleet to aid with transportation of troops and cargo to Alaska and the Philippines. The vessel was also renamed Rosecrans in honor of late general William Rosecrans. The transport then proceeded to Seattle and after loading her cargo of supplies and over 1,000,000 feet of lumber as well as 103 men of Seventh Infantry and fifty three other passengers departed for Port Valdez on 25 April. After unloading the cargo and her passengers the ship returned to Seattle in mid-May successfully completing her first voyage in government service.

USAT Rosecrans departed Seattle on 2 June on her next trip carrying two companies of the Seventh Infantry in addition to general merchandise, army supplies and over 800,000 feet of lumber bound for Nome. The journey was rather uneventful until the morning of 10 June, when the vessel ran into a heavy fog bank. The ship was eventually forced to anchor as the fog remained thick. The heavy fog prevailed in the area until the morning of 14 June, when it finally lifted and Rosecrans could continue her trip. As she continued north heavy ice fields were encountered forcing the vessel to carefully navigate through them. At about 03:00 on 15 June the ship suddenly ran onto a sand bar, located at roughly equal distance from both Nome and St. Michael's. About two hours later another steamer, SS Charles Nelson, came by and attempted to dislodge the grounded steamer but after breaking several hawsers and a steel cable departed the area for Dutch Harbor. An order was then given to lighten the vessel, and some cargo including general merchandise and some lumber were unloaded into life boats, surfboats and makeshift rafts. Tug Meteor arrived in the afternoon of 17 June, and after further unloading and preparation work was finished, managed to pull Rosecrans off the sand bar and into deep water. Meanwhile, due to increased wind many rafts and boats were blown away from the site of the rescue, and Meteor had to be dispatched to find them. After a long search several rafts and boats were brought but some of them were missing their cargo. Meanwhile, Rosecrans attempted to reach Nome, but due to prevailing ice she was forced to go into Dutch Harbor where she arrived on 20 June.