The ship nearly came to be built in Norway by Framnæs, the yard which would later build the "Endurance" but it was thought that the British government's money should be spent at a British yard and the "Discovery" was built by the Dundee Shipbuilders Company, which primarily made smaller vessels such as trawlers, tugboats and steam yachts. The yard was previously owned by Alexander Stephen and Sons and had built the "Terra Nova" (purchased in 1910 by Scott for his last expedition) in 1884. The committee responsible for the ship's construction offered a separate tender for her boilers, engine and auxiliary machinery in an effort to reduce costs. Dundee Shipbuilders also won that order, but sub-contracted the work to another Dundee engineering firm, Gourlay Brothers.