[citation needed] Foundation Franklin was powered by a triple expansion steam engine driving one propeller,[1] rated at 1,200 horsepower (890 kW).

[citation needed] Foundation Franklin was built as HMS Frisky by John Lewis and Sons Shipbuilding at their yard in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1918.

Brought to Foundation Maritime headquarters in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1931, the tug was further refitted by Halifax Shipyards for Atlantic salvage service.

After a few salvage jobs based along the Saint Lawrence River, Foundation Franklin established a homeport at Halifax, Nova Scotia for the rest of her career.

[1] Her bell, bearing her original Royal Navy name Frisky, was saved from the scrapyard and used at the Foundation Wharf to summon crews to successor rescue tugs when vessels were in distress.

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic preserved Foundation Franklin's bridge and engine room clocks as well as several models and the tug's heavy salvage tackle.