| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Completed | August 1862 |
| Acquired | October 31, 1862 |
| Commissioned | December 11, 1862 |
| Decommissioned | June 30, 1865 |
| Fate | Sold, August 17, 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Sternwheel steamer |
| Tonnage | 175 tons |
| Length | 154 ft 2 in (46.99 m) |
| Beam | 31 ft 2 in (9.50 m) |
| Draft | 4 ft 6 in (1.37 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × steam engines |
| Armament | 6 × 24-pounder howitzers (May 1, 1863) |
USS Romeo was a sternwheel steamer that saw service as a tinclad warship during the American Civil War. Completed in August 1862 for civilian trade on the Wabash River, she was instead purchased by the Union Navy for military service in October. Commissioned in December, she cleared naval mines on the Yazoo River later that month before participating in the operations against Confederate-held Fort Hindman in January 1863. After the fall of Fort Hindman, Romeo was part of an expedition up the White River. In February and March 1863, she was part of the Yazoo Pass Expedition, and she fought with Confederates at river landings later in the year to help isolate Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign.
Later in 1863, Romeo served on the White, Little Red, and Tennessee Rivers. During February 1864, she was part of an expedition up the Yazoo River to Yazoo City, Mississippi, and then spent most of the rest of the war patrolling on the Mississippi River. During this time patrolling, she had multiple encounters with Confederate land forces. By April and May 1865, the war was ending, and Romeo was declared surplus on May 29. Decommissioned on June 30, she was sold on August 17 and was then used in the merchant trade. At some point in her civilian career, she was converted into a sidewheel steamer. Romeo ceased to appear in the shipping registers in 1870.