USS Memphis, a 791-ton (burden) iron screw gunboat, was built at Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1862 as the commercial steamship of the same name. She soon found employment running the Union blockade of the Confederacy and, on 22 June 1862, ran aground while attempting to enter Charleston harbor, South Carolina. Efficient work by Southern troops got her partially unloaded on the following day, and she was towed to safety before Federal warships could hit her with shell fire. The blockade runner was captured on 31 July when she encountered USS Magnolia during her outbound voyage. The U.S. Navy purchased her from the New York Prize Court in early September. Commissioned in October 1862, Memphis was sent back to the Charleston area to counter the activities of other blockade runners.

On 14 October 1862, shortly after arriving on station, Memphis captured the British steamer Ouachita. During 1863 she was involved in the capture of three more blockade violators, among them the steamship Havelock on 11 June. She also had two actions with enemy warships. The first took place on 31 January 1863, when the Confederate ironclads Chicora and Palmetto State attacked Union vessels off Charleston. During that battle, Memphis towed the disabled USS Keystone State out of harm's way. In March 1864, while on guard in the North Edisto River, near Charleston, Memphis was the target of the spar torpedo boat David, but escaped serious damage or destruction when the Confederate torpedos misfired.

Memphis continued on blockade service until the Civil War's end and stayed in active service for the next two years. She was decommissioned in May 1867 and sold in May 1869. Reentering commercial trade under the name Mississippi, she operated until 13 May 1883, when she burned at Seattle, Washington.