Originally built in 1928 as SS Dixie at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, she was formally acquired by the United States Navy on 3 March 1941 from the Southern Pacific Steamship lines (Morgan Line) and converted for naval service at the Bethlehem Steel Key Highway Plant in Baltimore, Maryland.
Originally constructed in 1928 as SS Dixie at the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Kearny, New Jersey, she was officially taken over by the United States Navy on March 3, 1941 from the Southern Pacific Steamship lines (Morgan Line) and converted for naval service at the Bethlehem Steel Key Highway Plant in Baltimore, Maryland.