Seneca, a 2208 gross ton iron barge, was built as a commercial schooner in 1884 at Chester, Pennsylvania. She was purchased by the Navy in October 1917 and placed in commission as USS Seneca (SP-1240). Employed as a coal barge for much of the First World War, she was initially based at Tompkinsville, New York, moving to Providence, Rhode Island, in January 1918. Late in the conflict Seneca was used as a floating base at Shelbourne, Nova Scotia. Between February and August 1919 she served as a tender and accomodation ship for Submarine Division Five, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Norfolk, Virginia. USS Seneca as sold in September 1919.