The CSS McRae was a Confederate gunboat that saw service during the American Civil War. Displacing around 680 tons, she was armed with one 9-inch smoothbore and six 32-pound smoothbore cannon. Originally rebel Mexican-flagged (under the name of Marqués de la Havana), the wooden sloop was captured as a pirate ship by the United States Navy ship, USS Saratoga during the Battle of Anton Lizardo in 1860. A construction plan authorizing the building of ten fast gunboats was funded by the Confederate Legislature on March 15, 1861. Recognizing that no yard could turn out the vessels fast enough, Stephen R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy, sent a commission to New Orleans to convert existing steamers to commerce raiders. The Mexican vessel was purchased by the Confederate States Navy at New Orleans