The third USS Vixen was a steamboat

Steamboat

A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...

 in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 during the Mexican-American War.

Vixen was originally built for the government of Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 by Brown and Bell of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, she was purchased by the Navy in May 1846 at the outset of the Mexican-American War.

Mexican-American War, 1846–1848

Immediately after her purchase, Vixen was deployed off the Gulf Coast of Mexico with Commodore David Conner's

David Conner (naval officer)

Commodore David Conner was an officer of the United States Navy, whose service included the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War. During the 1840s, he served on the Board of Navy Commissioners and as the first Chief of the Bureau of Construction, Equipment, and Repair.Conner was born in...

 blockade squadron. There, she performed numerous patrol and reconnaissance assignments and was helpful in securing the Mexican coast in preparation for combined Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

-Navy movements inland. Under the command of Joshua R. Sands

Joshua R. Sands

Joshua Ratoon Sands was an officer in the United States Navy who rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. He served in the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, and the Civil War.-Biography:...

, Vixen first saw action on 16 October 1846 when she participated in the unsuccessful attempt to take Alvarado

Alvarado, Veracruz

Alvarado is a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city also serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. It is located 64 km from the city of Veracruz, Veracruz, on Federal Highways 180 and 125...

, Mexico, the most important Mexican port east of Vera Cruz

Veracruz, Veracruz

Veracruz, officially known as Heroica Veracruz, is a major port city and municipality on the Gulf of Mexico in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The city is located in the central part of the state. It is located along Federal Highway 140 from the state capital Xalapa, and is the state's most...

. During the engagement, she towed the schooner

Schooner

A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....

s and but, together with the rest of the American fleet, was unable to cross the bar off the port and soon broke off the attack.

After this initial failure, the squadron moved south in an attempt to cut off the Yucatán Peninsula

Yucatán Peninsula

The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...

 from the rest of Mexico. Success hinged upon the capture of the coastal port of Frontera, at the mouth of the Tabasco River, followed by the surrender of the city of Tabasco

Tabasco

Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....

, upstream. Vixen and the rest of the squadron maneuvered into position off Frontera on 23 October. Commodore Matthew C. Perry assumed command of the gunboat and, with the schooners Bonita and Walter Forward

USRC Walter Forward (1841)

USRC Walter Forward was a schooner constructed for service with the United States Revenue Cutter Service. She served with the U.S.Navy in Mexican waters during the Mexican-American War and was, after the war, was temporarily transferred to the U.S...

 in tow, dashed across the bar and captured the Mexican flotilla defending the port. Vixen and Perry ascended the Tabasco River on the 24th and 25th with other vessels of the squadron and finally secured Tabasco on the 26th after a three-shot bombardment of the city by Vixen.

Vixen returned to the blockade immediately after the successful conclusion of the Yucatan campaign and later participated in the capture of Laguna, on 20 September. She also assisted in the capture of Tampico, on 14 November and covered troop landings at Vera Cruz, the main military objective of the fleet, on 9 March 1847. After Mexican defenders rejected peace overtures, the American squadron attacked the city on the 23rd; and, two days later, and Vixen made a daring and visually spectacular close range assault upon defensive fortifications ashore. Vera Cruz finally surrendered unconditionally on the 28th. This stunning victory enabled General Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott

Winfield Scott was a United States Army general, and unsuccessful presidential candidate of the Whig Party in 1852....

 to march on Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 by the shortest overland route and, as such, was the decisive action of the Mexican War.

Home Squadron, 1848–1854

Vixen conducted clean-up operations with the squadron for the duration of the war. After the ratification of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is the peace treaty, largely dictated by the United States to the interim government of a militarily occupied Mexico City, that ended the Mexican-American War on February 2, 1848...

 on 30 May 1848, she joined the Home Squadron

Home Squadron

The Home Squadron was part of the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. Organized as early as 1838, ships were assigned to protect coastal commerce, aid ships in distress, suppress piracy and the slave trade, make coastal surveys, and train ships to relieve others on distant stations...

 and underwent repairs at the Washington Navy Yard

Washington Navy Yard

The Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...

 in 1850. The gunboat was temporarily decommissioned at Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

, in 1853 after numerous fatal outbreaks of yellow fever

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....

 swept her and underwent further repairs at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

in 1854.

Vixen was sold in 1855.