Hall secured the Navy tugboat "Periwinkle", a 387-ton screw-propelled steamer. At the Washington Navy Yard, the ship was fitted as a fore-topsail schooner and renamed . She was prepared for Arctic service by the addition of solid oak timber all over her hull, and the bow was sheathed in iron. A new engine was added, and one of the boilers was retrofitted to burn seal or whale oil. The ship was also outfitted with four whaleboats, and , and a flat-bottomed scow.