 The ship was laid down as type T2-A tanker SS "Aekay", M.C.hull 148 on 12 June 1941 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. of Chester, Pennsylvania; launched on 11 October 1941; sponsored by Miss Barbara Vickery of Washington, D.C.; acquired by the Navy on 20 July 1941; and commissioned as "Neches" on 16 September 1942.After shakedown off the Atlantic Coast she steamed for San Pedro, California via the Panama Canal.