[4] Avalon was constructed by Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware on order by Ogden L. Mills, the Secretary of the United States Treasury with the yard number 1047.

[5] To augment the local sea defences of East Coast ports during the Battle of the Atlantic, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) sought large, steel-hulled yachts to requisition.

Frederick H. M. Jones, a member of the Nova Scotia militia and general manager of the Eastern Trust Company was sent to acquire the vessel.

After being purchased by Jones, it took a month for Avalon to travel from Gulfport to Shelburne, Nova Scotia via Miami, Florida and the US East Coast.

[3] Vison was the last of the Canadian armed yachts to commission in World War II, entering service on 5 October 1940 at Pictou.

With the reopening of the St. Lawrence River, Vison was once again assigned to Gaspé Force in July and remained with the unit until December.

At 1347 GMT, the German submarine U-106 attacked the convoy, firing two torpedoes at SS Waterton, a 2,140 GRT British-flagged vessel.

Vison was used to train ratings in concert with Royal Navy submarines in the Bay of Fundy until the end of the war.

"[11] The armed yacht was one of 15 discarded vessels sold to Wentworth MacDonald, an entrepreneur from Sydney, Nova Scotia.