As Segovia it was launched on 15 August 1931 the same day as Talamanca, both ships christened by First Lady Lou Henry Hoover using water gathered from Central American rivers.

In March 1942 Jamaica was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) under bareboat charter and delivered to the Navy under sub bareboat charter to be commissioned Ariel named after the "airy and playful spirit" Ariel in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.

Peten was one of six UFC sister ships with General Electric turbo-electric transmission ordered in August 1930 to be built under the Merchant Marine Act of 1928.

[2] The prospective name for the ship had been Segovia, keel laid 9 March 1931 as hull #345, with launch on 15 August 1931.

[1] The launch was on the same day as Talamanca (hull #344) in a ceremony in which First Lady Lou Henry Hoover christened the ships with water gathered from Central American rivers.

[1] The company's ships were named for mountain ranges, cities and provinces in Central and South America with Petén being a political region in Guatemala.

Jamaica was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 24 March 1942 at New Orleans under bareboat charter.

Over the next 18 months Ariel operated along the east coast and made numerous voyages to ports in the Caribbean including Bermuda, Trinidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Havana and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

She returned to the east coast, arrived back at New York City on 7 September, and resumed her supply service to the Caribbean.

She called at Algiers, French Algeria on 24 January and soon sailed for Naples, Italy, where she unloaded supplies.

[15] Ariel sailed for the Caribbean on 20 February and called at St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to unload.

She operated from the ports of Clyde, Scotland; Belfast, Northern Ireland; and Plymouth and Portland Harbour, England.

She unloaded stores and equipment at Oran and Naples before returning to the United States via a stop in the Azores, reaching New York on 3 August.

[15] After a week in New York, Ariel made a round trip to supply Guantanamo Bay and Trinidad.

[14] Jamaica was sold in December 1957 to Union-Partenreederei T/S of Bremen, Germany, which also acquired her United Fruit sister ship Chiriqui.