USS King Philip was a steamer that was originally named Powhatan; she was acquired by the United States Navy during the American Civil War.

Early in the Civil War, the Union Army seized the side wheeler on 21 April 1861 and transferred her to the United States Navy.

A week later, Lieutenant John Glendy Sproston was ordered to take command of Powhatan and proceed to Kettle Bottom Shoals to replace and protect buoys there which had been removed by Confederate agents.

After patrol duty in the Potomac River, helping to protect Washington, D.C., during the early months of the Civil War, Powhatan steamed to Baltimore for repairs.

Throughout the Civil War, King Philip was used as a dispatch boat, shuttling mail, supplies, and passengers between Washington, D.C., and Union ships on the Potomac and Rappahannock Rivers.