Launched origionally as Thea Foss the corporate yacht of the Foss Tugboat Company in 1933. Like many vessels of her time she was conscripted by the U.S. Coast Guard to serve as a patrol vessel. She patrolled the Bremerton Naval Yard for the duration of the War. Afterwards she was returned to the Foss Corporation. In 1949 Foss acquired a large fantail yacht named "Infanta" which replaced this vessel as the corporate flagship, earning the name "Thea Foss". For the next 4 years there were 2 vessels bearing Thea's name, and this being the smaller of the two began to be referred to as "the little one" or "Mit Lit" in Norwegian. The name was officially changed in 1953, with the vessel's change in ownership.