From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

Soestdijk a steel-hulled steamer launched in 1901 by Furness, Withy & Co., West Hartlepool, England, for the Holland America Line was seized by United States Customs officials on 21 March 1918; transferred to the Navy; and commissioned on 30 March 1918 for service in the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS).

Soestdijk's career in NOTS consisted entirely of voyages between Atlantic ports of the United States and South American shipping centers, carrying coal, manganese ore, and linseed. Between May 1918 and May 1919, she made three trips from Baltimore to Brazilian ports and she also engaged in coastwide traffic along the eastern seaboard, visiting New York, N.Y.; Charleston, S.C.; and Newport News, Va. On 2 June 1919, she sailed from Baltimore laden with food bound for Europe. She made Falmouth, England, on the 16th; then headed on to Goteborg, Sweden, where she unloaded her cargo. On 8 July, she departed Goteborg for Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Soestdijk decommissioned there on 14 July 1919 and was returned to her owner.