 Following brief duty on the Pacific station, "Marietta" departed San Francisco on 19 March 1898 for Callao, Peru, to arrange for the coaling of the battleship which was steaming to join the North Atlantic Squadron off Cuba.Moving on to Valparaíso, Chile, on 31 March, the gunboat joined the "Oregon" on 17 April in Punta Arenas, Chile, after having proceeded through the Straits of Magellan, and together the two warships proceeded and up the east coast of South America, separating at Bahia, Brazil, on 11 May.She arrived at Key West, Florida on 4 June, then joined the blockade of Havana Harbor.