USS Huron, a 691-ton Unadilla class screw steam gunboat, was built at Boston, Massachusetts. Commissioned in January 1862, she operated off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida for the next two years, participating in the capture or destruction of three blockade-running steamers and four sailing vessels. Huron also took part in the several operations against Confederate shore positions, among them bombardments of Fort McAllister, Georgia, and batteries in the Stono River, S.C.

Transferred to the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron in 1864, Huron bombarded Fort Fisher, North Carolina, during both the unsuccessful attempt to capture that strong point in December 1864 and the successful one the next month. She subsequently participated in operations on the Cape Fear River, N.C. In May 1865, Huron steamed to the Gulf of Mexico to help with efforts to intercept escaping Confederate officials.

Following the end of the Civil War, Huron served on the South American station. She decommissioned in October 1868 and was sold in June 1869. She subsequently became the merchant vessel D.H. Bills.