The ship was laid down on 18 June 1928 as the fishing trawler M/V Holy Cross by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. Launched on 24 November 1928, and delivered on 27 November 1928. Renamed Kite on 14 August 1940, and acquired by the U.S. Navy on 11 September 1940. Conversion to a minesweeper began on 12 September 1940 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, Massachusetts, commissioned as USS Kite (AM-75) on 3 March 1941, conversion completed in April 1941.