Banks was constructed by Freeman Pyzant of Lockeport, with the objective of speed, as she was built for the cod fishing industry.

They decided to buy her because they thought she was the perfect vessel for smuggling booze to Prince Edward Island, the province mostly affected by the 1901 prohibition.

[4] In the early part of 1943, a sea Captain named Roberts lived aboard her in Murray Harbour, Prince Edward Island.

John MacDonald was selected as the right man to do this, but once she was pulled up near his home in Murray Harbour, PEI, the money did not come fast enough to effect the necessary repairs, and the ship's condition worsened.

The new landowner, Joe Bell, convinced William Harris that he had permission from Captain Maquire to burn the boat.

He stood back from the heat as the flames from the burning timbers consumed her dry bones, having no inkling that a wealth of Prince Edward Island history was disappearing in front of him.