"Torrance" was laid down as a Type C2-S-AJ3 ship under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1382) on 1 April 1944 at Wilmington, North Carolina, by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 6 June 1944; sponsored by Miss Marlene DeKay; acquired by the Navy on 20 June and towed to the Bethlehem Steel Company plant at Hoboken, New Jersey, for conversion to an attack cargo ship; and commissioned on 18 November 1944, Lt. Comdr. George A. Euerle, USNR, in command.