Coincidentally built by the vessel's namesake Napier & Miller Ltd. at Old Kilpatrick, Glasgow, in 1909, the Baron Napier was one of the sizeable fleet of general cargo screw steamers owned by the Hogarth Shipping Company established in 1898. Constructed of steel throughout and designed with two decks, seven bulkheads and seven watertight compartments, she was registered in Ardrossan at 4,943 tons gross (4,630 under deck and 3,159 net) and measured 400½ feet in length with a 52 foot beam. Powered by a triple-expansion 3-cylinder 359nhp. engine by Dunsmuir & Jackson of Glasgow, with boilers by the same maker, she underwent her trials in July 1909 and entered the company's service immediately thereafter. Surviving the many dangers of the Great War, Baron Napier then fell prey to the company's plan to increase its tonnage due to rising freight rates during the 1920s. Like a number of her consorts, Baron Napier was offered for sale and was purchased by Oguma Shoten Gomei Kaisha of Japan in 1926. Renamed Ishin Maru and re-registered in Takasago, she continued sailing under Japanese colours until 17^th May 1944 when she became a casualty of war and was sunk.