in september 1911, the american-hawaiian steamship company placed an order with the maryland steel company of sparrows point, maryland, for four new cargo ships—"minnesotan", , , and . the contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8% profit for maryland steel, but with a maximum cost of $640,000 per ship. the construction was financed by maryland steel with a credit plan that called for a 5% down payment in cash with nine monthly installments for the balance. provisions of the deal allowed that some of the nine installments could be converted into longer-term notes or mortgages. the final cost of "minnesotan", including financing costs, was $65.65 per deadweight ton, which totaled just under $668,000.