The second USS Kanawha was a screw-powered steamer that served in the United States Navy in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Kanawha was built in 1896 by Charles L. Seabury and Company, Nyack on Hudson, New York. The U.S. Navy purchased her from John P. Duncan on 7 June 1898 for use in the Spanish-American War and armed her. She commissioned as USS Kanawha at the New York Navy Yard, New York, New York, on 26 July 1898, Lieutenant Frank F. Fletcher in command.