"Edward W. Bok" was laid down on 14 January 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2469, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. H.M. Nornabell, the wife of Major Henry Marshall Nornabell, the director of Bok Tower Gardens, and was launched on 12 March 1944.