The ship was built in 1942 by John Readhead and Sons Ltd, South Shields, County Durham as Empire Forest for the MoWT.[4] She was yard number 526.[3] She was launched on 13 January 1942 and completed in March.[4] The United Kingdom Official Number 168653 and Code Letters BDFF were allocated. Her port of registry was South Shields.

The ship was 430 ft 9 in (131.29 m) long between perpendiculars (446 ft 4 in (136.04 m) overall), with a beam of 56 feet 2 inches (17.12 m). She had a depth of 35 feet 2 inches (10.72 m) and a draught of 26 feet 9 inches (8.15 m). She was assessed at 7,043 GRT, 4,957 NRT.

The ship was propelled by a 510 nhp triple expansion steam engine, which had cylinders of 241⁄2 inches (62 cm), 39 inches (99 cm) and 70 inches (180 cm) diameter by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke.

The engines were built by John Readhead & Sons Ltd. It drove a single screw propeller. The engine could propel the ship at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h).

She was sold to Clan Line in 1946 and renamed Clan Allan.

Sold in 1958 to Bullard, King & Co Ltd and renamed Umtali (3), she was sold back to Clan Line the following year and renamed Clan Allan.

She was sold to Mullion & Co Ltd, Hong Kong in 1961 and renamed Ardsirod, serving until 1966 when she was scrapped.

As Ardsirod