Nautilus, the first ship designed for the United States Coast Survey, was completed in 1838.

Until the spring of 1844 she carried out surveys for the Coast Survey in the Gulf of Mexico and along the United States East Coast, operating under Mr. Ferdinand R. Hassler from 1838 to 1843 and Dr. A. D. Bache from 1843 to 1844.

Three years later, in 1847, Nautilus was taken over by the U.S. Navy for temporary duty during the Mexican–American War, as light-draft vessels were needed for operations off the United States Gulf Coast.

Such vessels, with their ability to ride over the sandbars frequently found at the entrances to harbors on that coast and to patrol between those harbors close to shore, facilitated combined operations and the U.S. Navy's ability to provide U.S. forces in Mexico under Major General Zachary Taylor with a secure line of communications in the Gulf of Mexico.

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