SS Shinyō Maru (春洋丸) was built in Nagasaki in 1911 by Mitsubishi Dockyard & Engine Works.[2] Her length was 558 ft and breadth 61.9 ft Her tonnage was 13,426 GRT, with a displacement of 21,650 ('22 000') tons.[1] Her triple screws gave her a speed of 21 knots. The liner had accommodation for 275 first class, 75 second class, and 800 steerage passengers. Shinyo Maru was powered by thirteen Scotch boilers providing steam for three sets of Parsons turbines for 17,000 horsepower.[3]
She was the third of three new liners built specifically for the trans-Pacific liner route (Hong Kong—San Francisco) for Toyo Kisen Kaisha Steamship Co. (TKK).[4] Shinyo Maru made trials on 25 July 1911, delivered to TKK on 15 August and departed for Yokohama and San Francisco on 21 August 1911.[5]