Yacona was built as a private yacht of that name in 1898 by John Scott and Company at their Abden Shipyard, Kinghorn, on the Firth of Forth, Scotland for Walter S Bailey of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. She was a three-masted schooner-rigged steam yacht with a steel hull, measured at and 635 tons Thames Measurement. Her length overall was , with a beam of and depth of . Her single propeller was powered by a 900 ihp triple expansion steam engine also made by Scott, at their engine works at Kirkcaldy.
