The first USS Kingfisher was purchased by the Navy at Boston, Massachusetts, 2 August 1861; and commissioned at Boston Navy Yard 3 October, Acting Lt. Joseph P. Couthouy in command. That day she was ordered to Key West, Florida, for duty in the Gulf Blockading Squadron. On 21 January she joined USS Ethan Allen in capturing the Olive Branch bound from Cedar Keys to Nassau, Bahamas, with a cargo of turpentine. She again cooperated with Ethan Allen 26 January in manning and equipping a boat expedition to the mouth of the Manatee River which captured the sloop Mary Nevis and burned Confederate cavalry barracks. Three days later she took Spanish brig Terisita of Havana bound for Matamoros, Tamaulipas with a contraband cargo. On 25 February Kingfisher overtook blockade runner Lion in the Gulf of