USS Marblehead, a 2072-ton cruiser of the Montgomery class, was built at Boston, Massachusetts, and commissioned in April 1894. Her early service years were spent in Caribbean, European and western Atlantic waters. During the Spanish-American War, she operated off Cuba and participated in the capture of Guantanamo Bay in June 1898.

In 1899 Marblehead steamed to the Pacific, serving there as a cruiser and Naval Militia training ship until 1918, when she transferred to the Caribbean area for World War I operations. Returning to the Pacific after the war, Marblehead decommissioned in August 1919. She was reclassified as a gunboat (PG-27) a year later and was sold in August 1921.