Boone was built in 1918, by the Dantzler Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Moss Point, Mississippi, for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). Boone was a Ferris-type built vessel, like the majority of wooden designed cargo vessels located within Mallows Bay, Maryland. Boone was among the 95 USSB steamships in the celebrated “Tidal Wave” of national ships launching on July 4, 1918. On this date, close to 100 vessels were launched from shipyards all across the United States, marking the greatest ship-launching day in history.