Macon originally was authorized as a patrol gunboat with the hull number PG-204, but she was redesignated as a patrol frigate with the hull number PF-96 on 15 April 1943. She was assigned the name Macon on 30 August 1943. Plans called for Macon to be built under a Maritime Commission contract by the American Shipbuilding Company at Lorain, Ohio, as a Maritime Commission Type T. S2-S2-AQ1 hull. However, the contract for her construction for the U.S. Navy was cancelled on 31 December 1943 prior to the laying of her keel.