USS Samson was a steamer acquired by the Union Army at the start of the American Civil War for usage in the United States Ram Fleet in the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

Samson, a wooden side wheel steamer built in 1860 at California, Pennsylvania, was purchased by the Union Army on 14 July 186 by Charles Ellet, Jr. for service in his ram fleet.

She served the Mississippi Squadron as a tugboat and a floating machine shop throughout the remainder of the Civil War.

After the end of hostilities, she was sold at public auction at Mound City, Illinois, to J. W. Clark and J. Nixon, et, al., on 9 August 1865.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.