At the beginning of World War I in August 1914, Erodiade took refuge at Buenos Aires in neutral Argentina to avoid capture or destruction by Allied naval forces and was laid up there.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Keresan departed New York City on 1 October 1918 with a cargo of ammunition for American forces in Europe.

Following the Armistice with Germany of 11 November 1918, Keresan returned to the United States in ballast, arriving at New York on 13 December 1918.

Delayed at Buenos Aires by a strike, she finally departed in early May 1919 with a cargo of maize and returned to New York on 5 June 1919.

Keresan was decommissioned on 26 June 1919 and transferred the same day to the United States Shipping Board for simultaneous return to Kerr Navigation.