Aulick was laid down on 14 May 1941 at Orange, Tex., by the Consolidated Steel Corporation; launched on 2 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Thaddeus A. Thomson, the wife of Captain Thaddeus A. Thomson who was then the acting commandant of the 8th Naval District; and commissioned on 27 October 1942, Lieutenant Commander O. P. Thomas, Jr., in command.