In 1912 Joseph Constantine and Warley Pickering of Middlesbrough, Yorkshire took delivery of a pair of sister ships: Thorpwood, launched that January by William Gray & Company of West Hartlepool,[1] and Wearwood, launched that April by John Blumer & Co of Sunderland.

She was built as yard number 503, launched on 10 September 1915 as Maplewood, and completed that October.

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine built by Blair & Co of Stockton that was rated at 278 NHP.

[4] In April 1917 Maplewood left La Goulette in Tunisia with a cargo of iron ore for Middlesbrough.

On 7 April U-35 sank her by torpedo 47 nautical miles (87 km) southwest of Cape Sperone, Sardinia.