Rosedale, a 938 gross ton wooden paddle-wheel river passenger steamship, was built 1877 at Norfolk, Virginia. She was chartered by the U.S. Navy in July 1918 and commissioned as USS Rosedale (ID # 3079). For the next eight months, as World War I approached its climax and the post-war era began, the steamer was used for local transport and freight service in the Delaware River area. She was returned to her owner at the end of March 1919.