Lorain originally was authorized as a patrol gunboat named USS Vallejo with the hull number PG-205, but she was redesignated as a patrol frigate with the hull number PF-97 on 15 April 1943. She was renamed USS Lorain on 19 November 1943. Plans called for Lorain 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 11 February 1944 prior to the laying of her keel.