Webb, also known as William H. Webb, was built in New York in 1856. She became the property of the Southern Steamship Co. and in May 1861 arrived at New Orleans from Havana and was issued a privateer's commission. She was never used in that capacity, but was employed in transport work until mid-January 1862 when Major General Lovell, CSA, pressed her into Confederate service and converted her into a formidable ram which would operate henceforth in the Mississippi and Red Rivers.
Webb figured prominently in the sinking of Indianola near New Carthage, Miss., on 24 February 1863. Commanded at this time by Maj. J. L. Brent, CSA, she was fought by a detachment of soldiers and was part of the gunboat force of Maj. Gen. R. Taylor, CSA, consisting of two small cotton clad vessels and the other ram Queen of the West.
Early in 1865 she was transferred to the Confederate Navy, and in April was ordered to sea to cruise against Union commerce. On 23 April she ran the blockade at the mouth of the Red River, and by-passed the forts at New Orleans on the 24th, but Federal ships followed in close pursuit. Her captain ran Webb ashore and fired her.
