USS Chimo, an 1175-ton Casco-class light draft monitor, was built at South Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to completion, inherent flaws in her design caused her conversion to a spar torpedo vessel, and she was commissioned as such in January 1865. In April, after installation of her armament, she was sent to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and later in the month to Point Lookout, North Carolina. After serving in the latter place until late May, Chimo was sent to the Washington Navy Yard, D.C., where she decommissioned in late June 1865. The ship was renamed Orion in June 1869, and again renamed Piscataqua in August. She remained inactive until sold for breaking up in 1874.

This page features all the views we have related to USS Chimo.

Photo #: NH 48107 Ships moored off the Washington Navy Yard, D.C. Photographed from the stern of USS Minatanomoh, circa 1865-66. Ships in the foreground are the monitors Chimo and Tonawanda. Beyond them is the ex-CSS Stonewall. Courtesy of Mrs. W.E. Taylor, 1941, from the collection of Medical Inspector William E. Taylor, USN.
Photo #: NH 93868 Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia Four monitors laid up in the Anacostia River, off the Washington Navy Yard, circa 1866. Ships are (from left to right): USS Mahopac, USS Saugus, USS Montauk (probably); and either USS Casco or USS Chimo. Photo mounted on a stereograph card, marked: "Photographed and published by Kilburn Brothers, Littleton, N.H.". Courtesy of Paul H. Silverstone, 1982. A stereo pair version of this image is available as Photo # NH 93868-A Online Image of stereo pair: 47KB; 675 x 370 pixels
Photo #: NH 58936 Washington Navy Yard, D.C. Ships moored in the Anacostia River off the Yard's waterfront, after the end of the Civil War, about 1865. The large twin-turret monitor in the center is Miantonomoh, with the smaller monitor Montauk tied up alongside her, to the left. In the left distance are the "light draft" monitor Chimo and the twin-turret monitor Tonawanda. The former Confederate ironclad Stonewall is beyond them. In the right distance is the Yard's western shiphouse. Ship at right is probably USS Resaca. The original print is mounted on a carte de visite produced by Christimo, 45 Rua de Quitanda, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Courtesy of Mrs. W.E. Taylor, 1941, from the collection of Medical Inspector William E. Taylor, USN.
Photo #: NH 55203 "Torpedo Arrangement & Platform ... Light Draft Monitors" Plan of the spar torpedo equipment designed for installation on the U.S. ships Casco, Chimo, Napa, Naubuc and Modoc, circa 1864. The original drawing is in the records of the Bureau of Ships at the U.S. National Archives. Online Image: 136KB; 1200 x 920 pixels