[1] In 1937 and 1938 John Readhead & Sons built three sister ships in their shipyard at South Shields on the River Tyne for Bank Line.

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine that was rated at 524 NHP[5] and gave her a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).

In March 1940, Teviot Bank and Royal Navy minelaying destroyers from flotilla D20 were sent on Operation Wilfred, which was to two minefields off the Norwegian coast with the intention of preventing German cargo ships from reaching those ports.

Teviot Bank was meant to lay a minefield off Stadlandet in western Norway, but this was immediately cancelled to release her escort ship for fleet duty.

[6] In September 1940 Teviot Bank laid 541 mines in fjords between the Faroe Islands, to restrict neutral shipping movements.

She worked with Kung Wo, an Indo-China Steam Navigation Company Ltd. passenger ship that had been converted into an auxiliary minelayer, to lay a large anti-submarine minefield across the eastern entrance to the Port of Singapore.

[6] In March 1942 Teviot Bank laid a minefield in the South Preparis Channel in the Andaman Islands.

[6] In 1944 Teviot Bank was sent west from the East Indies to lay a minefield in the Mediterranean off Anzio in Italy, but she was diverted and the plan was cancelled.