Pre-war Assigned to the
Pacific Fleet,
St. Louis departed
Tompkinsville, New York, on 15 May 1907 following completion of her trials along the
Virginia coast.
St. Louis called at
Port Castries,
Bahia,
Rio de Janeiro,
Montevideo,
Punta Arenas,
Valparaíso,
Callao, and
Acapulco before arriving at
San Diego on 31 August 1907. Operating off the west coast into the spring of 1908, she steamed from
Puget Sound to
Honolulu in June, then cruised in
Central American waters from July to October. On 5 November 1909,
St. Louis returned to Puget Sound and was placed in reserve on 14 November. Decommissioned on 3 May 1910,
St. Louis was recommissioned, in reserve, on 7 October 1911 at the
Puget Sound Navy Yard. She departed Puget Sound on 13 July 1911 for
San Francisco and brief service as receiving ship there. After undergoing repairs, 22 July 1911 to 28 February 1912, she joined the
Pacific Reserve Fleet again on 12 March. From 14 July 1912 until 26 April 1913, she operated in support of the
Oregon Naval Militia, then returned to the Puget Sound Navy Yard to be placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet for a year. She departed Puget Sound on 24 April 1914 and commenced her next assignment as receiving ship at San Francisco on the 27th. Returning north to
Bremerton,
St. Louis was again placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 17 February 1916.
Post-war After the
Armistice,
St. Louis was immediately pressed into service returning troops to the United States. She returned 8,437 troops to
Hoboken, New Jersey, from
Brest, France, in seven round-trip crossings between 17 December 1918 and 17 July 1919 when she arrived at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs. Designated
CA-18 on 17 July 1920 and assigned to post-war duty with the
European Squadron,
St. Louis departed Philadelphia on 10 September 1920 for
Sheerness,
Cherbourg and
Constantinople. She disembarked military passengers at Sheerness on 26 September, then continued on to the
Mediterranean and reported to the Commander, United States Naval Forces in
Turkish Waters at Constantinople on 19 October. Standing up the
Bosphorus from Constantinople on 13 November,
St. Louis embarked refugees at
Sevastopol and
Yalta, returning them to Constantinople on 16 November. The following day, her crew formed boat landing parties to distribute food among refugees quartered aboard naval transports anchored in the Bosphorus.
St. Louis continued her humanitarian duties at Constantinople and at
Anatolian ports during the time of unrest caused by the
Russian Civil War and the
Turkish revolution. She departed
Asia Minor for
Naples on 19 September 1921 and called at
Gibraltar. == Decommissioning and fate ==