Laid down on 18 June 1928 as the M/V Georgetown by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts. The ship was launched on 15 December 1928, and delivered on 19 December 1928. Renamed Linnet on 14 August 1940. Acquired by the U.S. Navy on 4 September 1940, conversion to a minesweeper began in September 1940 at the Bethlehem Steel Co. of East Boston, Massachusetts. Commissioned as USS Linnet (AM-76) on 3 March 1941, conversion was completed in March 1941. Reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary IX-166 on 20 April 1944.