"minnesotan" (maryland steel yard no. 124) was the first ship built under the original contract. she was launched on 8 june 1912, and delivered to american-hawaiian in september. "minnesotan" was , and was in length and abeam. she had a deadweight tonnage of , and her cargo holds had a storage capacity of . "minnesotan" had a speed of , and was powered by a single quadruple-expansion steam engine with oil-fired boilers, that drove a single screw propeller.