Aberdeen was built by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company in 1912 as a coastal whale catcher for the American Pacific Whaling Company operating out of Gray's Harbor from the Canada–United States border south to Cape Blanco in Oregon.

[1][4] Aberdeen and a sister ship, Westport were launched in the spring of 1912 with Aberdeen operational by May 1912 and reportedly already having caught "two monster whales.

"[2] In 1917 Aberdeen was inspected and found suitable for naval service and prospectively assigned identification number ID-763.

No record of actual acquisition by the United States Navy has been found.

[5] The vessel is shown active 1930 through 1945 with American Pacific Whaling Company.