USS Brilliant was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways.

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History
United States
Laid down	date unknown
Launched	1862
Acquired	August 13, 1862
Commissioned	October 2, 1862
Decommissioned	circa early 1865
Stricken	1865 (est.)
Fate	Sold, August 17, 1865
General characteristics
Displacement	227 tons
Length	154 ft 8 in (47.14 m)
Beam	33 ft 6 in (10.21 m)
Draught	5 ft (1.5 m)
Propulsion	steam engine stern wheel-propelled
Speed	6 MPH
Complement	not known
Armament	two 12-pounder rifles two 12-pounder smoothbore guns

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Brilliant, a wooden stern-wheel steamer, was built in 1862 at Brownsville, Pennsylvania, and purchased by the War Department, August 13, 1862 at St. Louis, Missouri and converted to tinclad by Edward Hartt; transferred to the Navy with the Western Flotilla October 1, 1862; and commissioned the following day. Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Charles G. Perkins in command.

After undergoing repairs Brilliant sailed from St. Louis, Missouri, September 25, 1862 to join the Mississippi Squadron at Cairo, Illinois. Throughout the Civil War she operated very actively on the Ohio, Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers until August 2, 1865.

On February 3, 1863 she assisted in repelling the Confederate attack on Fort Donelson, Tennessee, and from December 3 until December 16, 1864 supported the Union Army's attack on Nashville, Tennessee.

Brilliant was sold at public auction August 17, 1865 at Mound City, Illinois.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.