Built by Blythswood Shipbuilding Co. Ltd in Glasgow, Scotland, for the Bermuda and West Indies Steamship Company as Mid-Ocean in 1929, she was initially, described as a tug,[1] though other sources describe her as a tender, used to transport passengers between liners at anchorage and the shore.[2] While possibly used in both roles, she was used to service Furness-Withy liners that maintained passenger service between Bermuda and North America.