 Sailing as SS "Zyrianin", the ship remained a part of the Soviet merchant fleet into the late 1960s.In September 1911, the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, for four new cargo ships—, "Dakotan", , and .The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8% profit for Maryland Steel, but with a maximum cost of $640,000 per ship.