USS Seneca (AT-91)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Seneca |
| Builder | Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia |
| Yard number | 546 |
| Laid down | 7 September 1942 |
| Launched | 2 February 1943 |
| Commissioned | 30 April 1943 |
| Decommissioned | July 1971 |
| Reclassified | ATF-91, 15 May 1944 |
| Stricken | 30 October 1985 |
| Fate | Disposed of as a target, 21 July 2003 |
| Notes | Served as floating laboratory space at the Annapolis, Maryland, site of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | fleet tug |
| Displacement | 1,235 long tons (1,255 t) |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m) |
| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Complement | 85 |
| Armament |
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USS Seneca (AT-91) was a
fleet tug constructed for the United States Navy during World War II
. Her purpose was to aid ships, usually by towing, on the high seas or in combat or post-combat areas, plus "other duties as assigned." She served in the Atlantic Ocean performing various tasks.
Seneca was
Philadelphia Navy Yard
on 30 April 1943.
World War II North Atlantic operations
The tug completed fitting out and post-commissioning availability on 19 May and departed for trials, drills, and calibrations in the
U.S. 4th Fleet
.
Rescuing German U-boat survivors
For the next 21 months, Seneca was assigned target towing, general rescue, and salvage duties in the waters off the coast of Brazil. During one of her early rescue missions, Seneca captured two survivors of a German U-boat sunk by Allied ASW patrols.
Seneca was re-designated ATF-91 on 15 May 1944. On 9 April 1945, she departed
torpedoes
until her departure from Key West on 19 February 1946. Seneca towed a large floating crane to Philadelphia, arrived on the 26th, and later shifted to Norfolk for overhaul.
Post-war operations
Following overhaul, Seneca commenced 25 years of operations out of Norfolk and
Little Creek, Virginia. Her routine during this time consisted of target towing, rescue and salvage work, and ship towing; most often these were reserve ships moving from one berthing area to another or former Navy ships to be sunk as targets. Her sphere of operations consisted of the Atlantic seaboard, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico. She spent much of her career in the Guantanamo Bay area and in the British West Indies, but also frequented the New England, Canadian, and Greenland coasts. On one occasion, she even made a tow to Reykjavík
, Iceland.
Between 1946 and 1971, Seneca only ventured out of the western Atlantic three times. On 1 May 1961, she departed
U.S. 6th Fleet
after which she resumed her normal routine in the western Atlantic. Three of her more important evolutions before decommissioning were the tows of the Aircraft Carriers Essex and Randolph from the Boston Army Piers in Boston to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and tows of WW II Vessels from the Hudson River Reserve Fleet in the ongoing effort to clean up the Hudson encouraged by President Nixon.<Former Operations Officer>
Decommissioning
Maritime Administration on 18 November 1971 for lay up with the James River Group, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis, Virginia. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 October 1985. In the late 1980s, the ship was modified at the United States Coast Guard Yard for use as floating laboratory space. The ship was moored at the former Engineering Experiment Station[1] in Annapolis, Maryland, later part of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center. She continued to serve in this capacity until 18 June 1997, when she was towed to Portsmouth, Virginia.[2] She was finally sunk as a target along with the submarine tender Dixon and the destroyer tender Samuel Gompers in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina
on 21 July 2003.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Seneca (AT-91/ATF-91) at NavSource Naval History
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