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 Mayport, Florida, with AFBD-7 in tow and made Holy Loch, Scotland, a month later. Leaving her charge at Holy Loch, Seneca sailed to Penzance, England, on 5 June. She stood out of Penzance on 13 June and arrived in Norfolk, Virginia, on 24 June. In the summer of 1964, she participated in the tow of and YFNB-36 from Norfolk to Rota, Spain. She sailed to the Mediterranean in 1966 for a five-month deployment with the 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 Decommissioned in July 1971, Seneca was transferred to the 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 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. She was finally sunk as a target along with the submarine tender and the destroyer tender in the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina on 21 July 2003. References External links Cherokee-class fleet tugs World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Ships built by William Cramp & Sons 1943 ships Ships sunk as targets