After the battle, because of her speed, "McCulloch" was dispatched to the closest cable facility, that at Hong Kong, bearing the first dispatches of the great U.S. naval victory. On 17 May 1898, "McCulloch" left Hong Kong with Emilio Aguinaldo – the Philippine revolutionary who would later lead the Philippine forces in the Philippine–American War – aboard, arriving at Cavite in Manila Bay on 19 May. In a 12 June 1898 message to United States Secretary of the Navy John D. Long, Dewey commended Captain Hogsdon for the efficiency and readiness of "McCulloch" during the Battle of Manila Bay. Dewey presented "McCulloch" with four of the six 1-pounder revolving Hotchkiss guns taken from the wreck of the Spanish flagship, the cruiser . These four guns, each of which has five revolving barrels, are displayed in pairs to either side of the front of Hamilton Hall facing the parade ground at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. "McCulloch" arrived at San Francisco, California, on 10 January 1899 and operated on patrol out of that port along the United States West Coast, cruising from the Mexican border to Cape Blanco, Oregon, on law enforcement and lifesaving duties. After the 1,160-gross register ton, steamer "Cleveland" was wrecked on Cape Rodney () on the west-central coast of the Territory of Alaska in a snowstorm and sank with the loss of one life on 23 October 1900, "McCulloch" rescued her 38 survivors from the beach. "McCulloch" helped maintain order in the San Francisco area after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck on 18 April 1906. Tasked on 9 August 1906 with the enforcement of fur seal regulations, "McCulloch" operated in the vicinity of the Pribilof Islands until 1912. During these years of service on the Bering Sea Patrol, she was especially well known because of her services as a floating court to towns along the coast of the Territory of Alaska. Upon her return to San Francisco in 1912, "McCulloch" resumed patrol operations in her regular cruising district along the U.S. West Coast, with occasional deployments to Alaska. In 1914, she underwent an overhaul at Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, California, in which her boilers were replaced, fuel tanks were installed, her mainmast was removed, and her bowsprit was shortened. Her barkentine rig also was removed, and she emerged from the overhaul with two military masts instead.