Seneca V



AT-91

Displacement 1,675

Length 205'0"

Beam 38'6"

Draw 15'4"

Speed 16.25 k

Complement 85

Armament 1 3", 2 40mm

Class Navajo



	Seneca (AT-9l) was laid down at Philadelphia, Pa. on 7 September

1942 by the Cramp Shipbuilding Co., launched on 2 February 1943; and

commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 30 April 1943, Lt. Herman

B. Conrad commanding.



	The tug completed fitting out and post-commissioning availability

on 19 May and departed for trials, drills, and calibrations in the

Delaware Bay. Three days later, she cleared the Delaware Capes and

arrived at Norfolk, Va., for shakedown training. Seneca next stood out

of Norfolk on 18 June, towing a target raft to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

>From 27 June until 7 July, she conducted antisubmarine warfare (ASW)

training in the Guantanamo Bay operating area, then she headed for

Trinidad to begin a tour of duty with the 4th Fleet.



	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 redesignated

ATF-91 on 15 May 1944. On 9 April 1945 she departed Bermuda for Norfolk

with a dual tow. Upon arrival, she entered the Norfolk Navy Yard for

overhaul. On 26 May 1945, she cleared Norfolk for a tour of duty at

Port Everglades and Key West, Fla., with the Surface Group of the

Antisubmarine Development Detachment. She towed targets and recovered

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.



	Following overhaul, Seneca commenced 25 years of operations out

of Norfolk and Little Creek, Va. 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 Sea, 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

Reykjavik, Iceland. Between 1946 and 1971 Seneca only ventured out of

the western Atlantic three times. On 1 May 1961, she departed Mayport,

Fla., with AFBD-7 in tow and made Holy Loch, Scotland, a month later.

Leaving her charge at Holy Loch, Seneca sailed to Penzanee, England, on

5 June. She stood out of Penzanee on the 13th and arrived in Norfolk

Va. on the 24th. In the summer of 1964 she participated in the tow of

Oak Ridge (ARMD-1) and YFNB-56 from Norfolk to Rota, Spain. She sailed

to the Mediterranean in 1966 for a five-month deployment with the 6th

Fleet after which she resumed her normal routine in the western

Atlantic.



	Decommissioned in July 1971, Seneca was transferred to the

Maritime Administration on 18 November 1971 for layup with the James

River Group, National Defense Reserve Fleet. Seneca remains at James

River, Va., as of 1 January 1974.