Early Career
West Cheswald was inspected by the 13th Naval District of the United States Navy after completion for possible use as a service collier and was assigned the identification number of 4199. Had she been commissioned, she would have been known as USS West Cheswald (ID-4199), but the Navy neither took over the ship nor commissioned her.
Information on West Cheswald's early career is lacking, but records of some of her movements and cargo are available. On 30 September 1920, West Cheswald took on a load of white sugar at Java and headed for the United States via the Suez Canal. While she was near Bermuda, West Cheswald was diverted from her original destination of New York to Philadelphia, to deliver her cargo in fulfillment of an order. Because the cargo had not been originally headed to Philadelphia, the purchasers refused to pay for it, believing that the voyage took too long. After litigation and various appeals, the case ended up before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1928 as Lamborn v. National Bank of Commerce, 276 U.S. 469 (1928). The court found that under the contract signed, the purchasers were obligated for the sugar regardless of whether or not the ship had originally been destined for Philadelphia. West Cheswald was also reported in Hawaiian service during 1920. The report of the Governor of Hawaii in the annual report of the United States Department of the Interior for the 1920–21 fiscal year, listed West Cheswald among the four -owned ships sailed to Hawaii by the Pacific Steamship Company.
From 1922, West Cheswald operated to South America, often bringing coffee to the United States. In October 1922, for example, she delivered 22,700 pounds (10,300 kg) of coffee from Rio de Janeiro to New Orleans, Louisiana, and in March 1923, she delivered 105,400 bags to New Orleans and another 4,100 bags to Galveston, Texas. From 1923 to 1940, little is known about West Cheswald's activities. At some point during this period, she was laid up in New Orleans as part of the reserve fleet located there.
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