CSS Tuscarora was a sidewheel steamer that briefly served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy at the beginning of the American Civil War.

The vessel was purchased in 1861 from the Southern Steamship Company by Confederate authorities in New Orleans, Louisiana.

[5] The Southern Steamship Company was owned by Charles Morgan and ran six routes in the Gulf of Mexico, including United States mail service.

[8] In August, she was placed under the command of First Lieutenant John W. Dunnington,[3] who had previously served on the gunboat CSS McRae.

[9] By October 11, Tuscarora was part of a naval force Commodore George N. Hollins gathered near Fort Jackson.

Next, the Confederates released fire rafts, which did not succeed in igniting any Union ships, but did cause confusion.

[16] In November, Hollins began sending some of his ships, including Tuscarora, up the Mississippi River to support Confederate defenses at Columbus, Kentucky.

[5] A November 26 newspaper report described the fire's cause as a mystery, but suggested the ship's crew may have been drying shirts, which were then set ablaze by a spark.

[21] In late March 1862, Confederate authorities were taking sealed bids to raise the wreck and bring it to New Orleans.