USS Itasca, a 691-ton Unadilla class screw steam gunboat, was built at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Commissioned in November 1861, she was soon sent to the Gulf coast to enforce the blockade of the Confederacy. In January and February 1862, Itasca captured a schooner and assisted in taking a steamer. After being stationed at the mouth of the Mississippi River, in April she went up the river to take part in bombarding the Confederate fortifications below New Orleans and clearing the obstructions across the river. On 24 April, she was disabled by enemy gunfire as she participated in the Federal squadron's daring ascent of the Mississippi to New Orleans. During the rest of the year, she continued to operate along the great river.

Transferred to the blockade off Galveston, Texas, in January 1863, Itasca took two prizes before she went to Philadelphia for repairs in mid-year. She returned to the Gulf late in 1863 and was stationed off Mobile Bay. The gunboat was one of the squadron that ran past the Bay's defending forts on 5 August 1864, thus closing Mobile to external trade. Somewhat later, Itasca went back to the Texas blockade, where she captured one more sailing vessel and destroyed another late in 1864. She remained in the Gulf until August 1865, when she went north and was decommissioned. USS Itasca was sold to private interests in November and was renamed Aurora for merchant service. She was sold to foreign owners in 1867.