Captain Robert Townsend was a Civil War-era ship captain in the United States Navy. He served twice, once before the war then again during the war. He saw active combat while serving aboard three ships, most notably as commander of the USS Essex from 1863 to 1864, an ironclad gunship on the Mississippi River. Captain Townsend died of heatstroke while commanding the USS Wachusett in China in 1866, and is buried in Albany, New York.

USS Wachusett – the first U.S. Navy ship to be so named – was a large (1,032-ton), Mohican-class steam sloop-of-war that served the United States Navy during the American Civil War. She was outfitted as a gunboat and used by the Navy as part of the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America.