The first USS Sovereign was a 336-ton steamer captured on the Mississippi River by the Union Navy during the beginning of the American Civil War.

Sovereign—a side wheel steamer built in 1855 at Shpusetown, Pennsylvania—operated on the Mississippi River and its tributaries during the years preceding the Civil War.

However, a 16-year-old lad who was loyal to the Union remained on board, removed weights from the steamer's safety valves, wetted down her fires, and signaled Spitfire with a white sheet.

She served for the most part off the mouth of the Yazoo River tending combatant ships during operations against Vicksburg, Mississippi.

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