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USS Chippewa

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this ship’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Ship Information (from DANFS)1,2:

Name: USS Chippewa Type: Screw Steamer Gunboat Tonnage: 507
Length: 158’ Beam: 28’ Draught: Loaded, Forward: 9’2”; Loaded, Aft: 10’5”; Light, Forward: 8’, Light, Aft: 9’9”
Speed: Max: 9 knots, Avg.: 4 knots Complement: Not Listed. Class: Not Listed.
Armament: June 6, 1863: 1 11″ Dahlgren Smoothbore, 1 20-pdr. Parrot rifle, 2 30-pdr. Dahlgren rifles

October 29, 1864: 1 11″ Dahlgren Smoothbore, 1 20-pdr. Parrot rifle, 4 24-pdr. Smoothbores
Namesake: A tribe of Indians living principally around Lake Superior. Chippewa, Ontario, was the scene of a hard-fought battle won by the Americans 5 July 1814.

Images:

NH 59367 Chippewa CLOSEUP3

Ship Model Available:

Long Face Games Unadilla Class 90 Day Gunboat Ship Models Designs, 1/600 and 1/1200

Image of Unadilla Class 90 Day Gunboats 3D STL Files Shop Models Long Face Games

Captain(s):
Lieutenant Commander Aaron W. Weaver
Captain Image

Lieutenant Commander Edward E. Potter
Captain Image

Captain 3
Captain Image

 

First Offensive Order of Battle (June 13-18, 1864):

  • Not Present4

Second Offensive Order of Battle (June 19-30, 1864):

  • Not Present (source needed)

Third Offensive Order of Battle (July 1-31, 1864):

  • Not Present5

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle (August 1-31, 1864):

  • Not Present6

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle (September 1-October 13, 1864):

  • Not Present7,8,9

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle (October 14-31, 1864):

  • Not Present
  • Armament: 1 x 11″ Dahlgren Smoothbore, 1 x 20-pdr. Parrot rifle, 4 x 24-pdr. Smoothbores (October 29, 1864)10

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle (November 1-December 31, 1864):

  • Not Present (away in NC)11,12,13
  • Captain: Lieutenant Commander Aaron W. Weaver (November 1 and December 5 & 15, 1864)14,15,16
  • Armament: 6 x “guns” (December 15, 1974)17
  • Note: On December 15, 1864, this ship is noted as a “Class 4” vessel.18

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle (January 1-February 28, 1865):

Not Present (away in NC) (January 1 & 15 and February 1 & 15, 1865)19,20,21,22

James River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (February 25, 1865)23

  • Captain: Lieutenant Commander Aaron W. Weaver (January 1 & 15 and February 1 & 15, 1865)24,25,26,27
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament: 6 x “guns” (January 1 & 15 and February 1 & 15, 1865)28,29,30,31
  • Note: On January 1 & 15 and February 1 & 15, 1865, this ship is noted as a “Class 4” vessel.32,33,34,35

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle (March 1-April 2, 1865):

James River, Va. | North Atlantic Blockading Squadron | Union Navy (March 18 and April 1, 1865)36,37

Ordered to cruise Chesapeake Bay (on or before April 15, 1865)38

  • Captain:
    • Lieutenant Commander Aaron W. Weaver (March 18, 1865)39
    • Lieutenant Commander Edward E. Potter (April 1 & 15, 1865)40,41
  • Crew Strength:
  • Armament: 6 x “guns” (March 18 and April 1 & 15, 1865)42,43,44
  • Note: On March 18 and April 1 & 15, 1865, this ship is noted as a “Screw Class” vessel.45,43,44

 

Siege of Petersburg Battles:

  • Engagement at Dutch Gap Canal (April 1, 1865)48
  • Engagement at Dutch Gap Canal (April 2, 1865)49

 

Siege of Petersburg Involvement:50

The third Chippewa, a wooden screw steamer gunboat, was launched 14 September 1861 by Webb and Bell, New York; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned 13 December 1861, Lieutenant Andrew Bryson in command…

[SOPO Editor’s Note: The ship’s early war experiences are omitted here.]

After repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard, she returned to North Carolina to take part in the bombardments and capture of Fort Fisher in December 1864 and January 1865 and Fort Anderson, Cape Fear River, N.C., in February 1865.

Chippewa departed Wilmington, N.C., 1 March 1865 and steamed up the James River for patrol duty until 15 May, engaging enemy batteries at Dutch Gap Canal on 1 and 2 April.

After cruising to Havana, Cuba, between 17 May and 12 June 1865, Chippewa arrived at Boston 17 June where she was decommssioned 24 June 1865, taken to New York 29 June and sold there 30 November 1865.

 

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

      Sources:

      1. “DANFS.” Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs.html. ↩
      2. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, p. 57 ↩
      3. “NH 59367 ‘Our New Gun-Boats.’” Naval History and Heritage Command, www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-59000/NH-59367.html. Photo #: NH 59367 Our New Gun-boats Engraving published in Harper’s Weekly, July-December 1861 volume. It depicts ten of the 90-Day Gunboats constructed for the U.S. Navy in 1861-62. Ships, as identified below the image bottom, are (from left, all USS): Chippewa, Sciota, Itasca, Winona, Huron, Ottawa, Pembina, Seneca, Unadilla and Sagamore. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. ↩
      4. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 157–158 ↩
      5. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 324–325 ↩
      6. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 370–371 ↩
      7. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 410–412 ↩
      8. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 462–463 ↩
      9. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume X, pp. 514–515 ↩
      10. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Series 2, Volume 1, p. 57 ↩
      11. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 39–40 ↩
      12. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 140–142 ↩
      13. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 192–194 ↩
      14. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 39–40 ↩
      15. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 140–142 ↩
      16. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 192–194 ↩
      17. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 192–194 ↩
      18. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 192–194 ↩
      19. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 398–400 ↩
      20. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 597–599 ↩
      21. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 722–724 ↩
      22. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 20–21 ↩
      23. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 54–55 ↩
      24. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 398–400 ↩
      25. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 597–599 ↩
      26. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 722–724 ↩
      27. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 20–21 ↩
      28. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 398–400 ↩
      29. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 597–599 ↩
      30. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 722–724 ↩
      31. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 20–21 ↩
      32. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 398–400 ↩
      33. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 597–599 ↩
      34. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XI, pp. 722–724 ↩
      35. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 20–21 ↩
      36. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 71–73 ↩
      37. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 93–94 ↩
      38. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116–118 ↩
      39. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 71–73 ↩
      40. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 93–94 ↩
      41. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116–118 ↩
      42. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 71–73 ↩
      43. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 93–94 ↩
      44. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116–118 ↩
      45. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 71–73 ↩
      46. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 93–94 ↩
      47. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, Volume XII, pp. 116–118 ↩
      48. “Chippewa III (Screw Steamer Gunboat).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chippewa-iii.html. ↩
      49. “Chippewa III (Screw Steamer Gunboat).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chippewa-iii.html. ↩
      50. “Chippewa III (Screw Steamer Gunboat).” Naval History and Heritage Command, https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chippewa-iii.html. ↩

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