USS Prairie, a 6620-ton auxiliary cruiser, was built in 1890 at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a merchant steamer. Purchased by the Navy in April 1898, she served in the West Indies during the Spanish-American War. Post-war, she was employed as a training ship and transport. Converted to a destroyer tender in 1917, Prairie was designated AD-5 in 1920. She decommissioned in November 1922 and was sold in June 1923.