| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Ordered | as Willet Rowe |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | 1863 |
| Acquired | 16 October 1863 |
| In service | 2 November 1863 |
| Out of service | 15 July 1865 |
| Stricken | 1865 (est.) |
| Fate | Transferred to the United States Treasury Department for the Lighthouse Service 18 October 1865 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 159 tons |
| Length | 87 ft (27 m) |
| Beam | 19 ft (5.8 m) |
| Draught | 9 ft (2.7 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Complement | 34 |
| Armament | two 20-pounder Parrott rifles |
USS Iris was a steamer acquired by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.
Iris was built as Willet Rowe at Brooklyn, New York, in 1863 and was purchased by the Navy in New York City from C. W. Copeland 16 October of that year. She was outfitted as an armed tug and sailed from New York City 2 November to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Charleston, South Carolina, 6 November. She took station inside the bar at Charleston where she served faithfully during most of the remainder of the war.