 "Mount Temple" was originally assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 11,200.The vessel had a steel hull, and two 694 nhp triple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of , and diameter with a stroke, that drove two screw propellers, and moved the ship at up to .The ship was named after William Francis Cowper, Baron Mount Temple, a British politician, Lord of the Admiralty and at the time, also a chairman of Armstrong Whitworth & Company.