Neptune, a wooden tug, was taken over by the Confederate Army in about 1862 for the Texas Marine Department. She was employed as a tug, transport and lookout vessel in the vicinity of Galveston. On 1 January 1863, Confederate troops used her and the gunboat Bayou City in a bold effort to board and capture the USS Harriet Lane. Though the enterprise was a great success, Neptune was badly damaged when she rammed the Federal ship and sank shortly afterwards.