Panther was built by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa. in 1889. As the SS Venezuela, a merchant steamship, it was used for several years as a cargo freighter transporting bananas from Central and South America. The Panther was purchased by the Navy from Red D Line Steamship Co. on 12 April 1898, and commissioned at New York on 22 April 1898, Commander George Cook Reiter in command. Panther was designated AD-6 in 1920.