"Robert Y. Hayne" was laid down on 2 November 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1198, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. James C. Merrill, Jr., the wife of a Merrill-Stevens Drydock & Repair Co. official, she was launched on 30 May 1943.