Flower-class corvette
The gunboat was constructed in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada by the Collingwood Shipyard, Ltd. as the British Flower-class corvette HMS "Cornel" (K-278). It was transferred to the U. S. Navy on 6 January 1942; launched on 4 September 1942; and commissioned at Collingwood on 10 December 1942, Lieutenant H. M. Godsey, USNR, in command. It was the second ship to be named "Alacrity" by the U.S. Navy.