USS John Hancock was an armed steam tug in the United States Navy during the 1850s. She was named for Founding Father John Hancock and saw action against rioters in Massachusetts, filbusters in Cuba, rebels in China, and Native Americans in the Washington Territory. She took part in a hydrographic surveying expedition to East Asia and the Pacific Ocean. After her U.S. Navy service ended, John Hancock operated under the United States Department of State, served as floating powder magazine, and entered commercial service as a cod-fishing schooner before she was wrecked in 1893.