USS Nita was a captured Confederate steamer acquired by the Union Navy from the prize court during the American Civil War.

She was put into service by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Assigned to the East Gulf Blockading Squadron, Nita patrolled the west coast of Florida for the remainder of the Civil War, operating primarily between the mouth of the Suwannee River and the Anclote Keys.

Nita took her final ship on the morning of 24 October when two of her boats boarded abandoned and burning schooner Unknown off Clearwater Harbor.

On 12 November Nita and USS Hendrick Hudson steamed to Tampa Bay on a reconnaissance mission and landed a party to destroy Confederate salt works near Rocky Point, Florida.