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