The NZ Shipping Co ordered Rotorua as a sister ship for , which William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton had launched in 1909. Mrs George T Haycraft, wife of one of the NZ Shipping Co's directors, launched Rotorua on 9 July 1910. The ship was completed on 8 October. She was long, her beam was and her tonnages were and . Rotorua was slightly larger than Ruahine, and at the time was the largest ship yet built in Dumbarton.
