Ordered in 1884 for the American-owner Commercial Cable Company, Mackay-Bennett took her name from those of the company's two principal directors, John W. Mackay and Gordon Bennett, the latter being the rather flamboyant proprietor of the New York Herald newspaper. The company had only been incorporated the previous year to lay two additional transatlantic cables and whilst those were laid by the Siemens' cable-layer Faraday, their maintenance was entrusted to the recently completed Mackay-Bennett. Built on the Clyde by J. Elder at Govan, she was registered at 1,700 tons gross, measured 270 feet in length with a 40 foot beam and carried three cable tanks with a total capacity of 25,000 cubic feet.

Far from being one of the 'ocean greyhounds', within hours of the sinking of the Titanic, this humble cable-layer did all she could to assist with the body recovery operation.

Despite being sunk at her moorings during a Second World War air-raid, she was subsequently refloated and refitted, and survived until being sold for scrap metal in September 1965.