| History | |
|---|---|
 Confederate States | |
| Name | Maurepas |
| Namesake | Lake Maurepas |
| Owner |
|
| Launched | 1858 |
| In service | Purchased from civilian service, 1861 |
| Fate | Sunk as obstruction, June 17, 1862 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Sidewheel steamer |
| Tonnage | 399 |
| Length | 180 feet (55 m) |
| Beam | 34 feet (10 m) |
| Draft | 7 feet (2.1 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam |
| Complement | 79 |
| Armament |
|
CSS Maurepas was a sidewheel steamer that briefly served as a gunboat in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War. Built in 1858 in Indiana as Grosse Tete (English: "big head"), the vessel was used in commercial trade until 1860 and then delivered mail until 1861, when she was acquired by the Confederate Navy.
After being outfitted with five or six cannons and renamed Maurepas, she was sent to the defenses of Columbus, Kentucky, in March 1862, and participated in actions near Island Number Ten. After an abortive naval skirmish near Fort Pillow in Tennessee, Maurepas and the gunboat CSS Pontchartrain were sent up the White River to resist Union advances and aid transport. On June 16, the eve of the Battle of Saint Charles, Maurepas was sunk as an obstruction and her cannons sent ashore.