The vessel was built in 1928 as the luxury yacht Camargo for Julius Fleischmann, Jr. She made a world cruise in 1930–31, during which its crew spied on Japanese-held territories on behalf of the American government.

[2] She had a 60,000 US gallons (230,000 L; 50,000 imp gal) fuel tank and two 800 hp diesel engines,[3] and she had a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

[3] Between 1931 and 1932, Julius Fleischmann, his wife Dorette and their two children went on a world cruise on the Camargo along with three friends, a personal physician, National Geographic photographer Amos Burg and a crew of 36.

[3][4] Their 36,000-mile (58,000 km)-long journey began at the New York Yacht Club, and they visited Bermuda and Jamaica before passing through the Panama Canal and reaching the Pacific.

[4] The journey was well-documented in photographs,[4] and a three-hour long film was also produced and it is now preserved at the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

[3] While in the South Pacific, Fleischmann and the crew made maps and recorded information which was later used by the Americans to attack Japanese-held islands in World War II.

[3] During the journey, the Fleischmanns also came across three castaways who had been shipwrecked on Cocos Island, and they called the United States Navy who managed to rescue them.

[2] On 16 June 1944, Marcasite arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and twelve days later she was placed in reduced commission.

[5] In April 1953, while en route from Malta to Syracuse in rough seas, the vessel began taking on water after some engine trouble.

[5] At the time, there was a lot of mist,[5] and due to a navigational error, the vessel ran aground on the Merkanti Reef about 80 m (260 ft) off the coast of St. Julian's and capsized.

[5] The majority of the passengers and crew survived the sinking, either managing to swim to the shore or being rescued by small boats which came to help.

[5] Divers from the Royal Navy's Special Boat Section searched the partially-submerged ship shortly after the grounding.

Prime Minister Dom Mintoff boarded the vessel on the day of the grounding while rescue operations were ongoing.