The USS Stranger was a yacht built in 1880 by William Cramp & Sons, and later acquired in 1898 by the US Navy for use in the Spanish American War. It was commissioned on 30 June of that year and saw service in the West Indian Blocking Squadron off of Havana, Cuba. On November 16, 1898, she was loaned to the Louisiana Naval Militia for use in training of the unit. The ship served with the militia until nearly 1916 when she was reported to have been sunk in a hurricane in New Orleans