 "Gardoqui" was named for the commercial house of Joseph Gardoqui and Sons of Bilbao, Spain, which represented the American Colonies in the Spanish court during the American Revolution.Her keel was laid down in 1921 by the Federal Shipbuilding Company, in Kearny, New Jersey.She was acquired from the War Shipping Administration and commissioned at Pearl Harbor on 23 June 1945 with Lieutenant Harold L. Tysinger in command.