USS Badger was an auxiliary cruiser of the United States Navy, the first U.S. Navy ship named after the burrowing mammal. She was built in 1889 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania, as merchant ship Yumuri, purchased for use in the Spanish–American War on 19 April 1898 and converted to an auxiliary cruiser at New York Navy Yard, then commissioned on 25 April 1898, Commander in command; and joined the .