The cargo ship was built by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania, at the request of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD hull 124) in 1962.

[3] In 2001 the ship was transferred to the National Defense Reserve Fleet and remained in this status until July 2008 when it was sold to Southern Scrap Metal Corporation of New Orleans, Louisiana and subsequently transferred to New Orleans' Industrial Canal on 13 August, a little more than two weeks before Hurricane Gustav reached Louisiana's southeastern coast.

During the night of 31 August 2008 or early morning of 1 September 2008, as a weak category-3 hurricane Gustav approached the coast of Louisiana, at least two clusters of ships were dislodged from their moorings and broke free.

[7][8] Dupree claims the Corps of Engineers were testing locks on the Industrial Canal at the Mississippi river that prevented moving the ships prior to Gustav, and that the Courier was properly anchored during the storm, however the level of the surge and winds were sufficient to break their moorings.

Two other naval ships, the USNS American Explorer and USS Hunley were involved in separate incidents at the Florida Avenue Bridge and pump station.