USS Poinsett (1840) was a gunboat

Gunboat

A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...

 acquired by the U.S. Navy from the U.S. War Department for use during the Second Seminole War

Second Seminole War

The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...

. Post-war she performed survey duties before being returned to the War Department.

Service in the Second Seminole War

The first ship to be so named by the Navy, Poinsett, a sidewheel gunboat, was transferred from the War Department to the Navy Department in 1840 for service in the 2nd Seminole War. Initially commanded by Comdr. Isaac Mayo

Isaac Mayo

Commodore Isaac Mayo was a United States naval officer who served in the War of 1812, Second Seminole War, and Mexican War. He is credited with influencing the location of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis...

, she was employed against the Seminoles until August 1842 when a large percentage of the tribe was relocated in the west.

Assigned to survey duties

Then assigned to survey activities, Poinsett remained in the waters off Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, primarily in the Tampa

Tâmpa

Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...

area, until returned to the War Department in 1845