 Frederick Croft, a timber merchant who was born in Hull, United Kingdom but lived in Skien, Norway, commissioned the vessel in 1894 from Colin Archer, a ship designer and ship builder who also built "Fram" for the explorer Fridtjov Nansen.The construction took place at the shipbuilding yard Porsgrund Baatbyggeri which was headed by Thor Martin Jensen.Named after the heraldic beast wyvern, the vessel was launched in 1897.