CSS Scorpion was a Squib-class torpedo boat that served in the Confederate States Navy during the American Civil War.

Armed with a single spar torpedo, she originally served guard duty on the James River after being built in late 1864.

During the American Civil War, the Union blockade was slowly destroying the economy of the rebelling Confederate States of America.

The attack damaged a Union vessel, and the partial success led the Confederates to build additional torpedo boats.

Beginning on January 23, 1865, the James River Squadron began an offensive against the Union supply depot at City Point, Virginia.

Read later took Scorpion to look for the gunboat CSS Hampton, but after not finding her, took the ship to Virginia II to get a lantern for lighting the passage.

Moving towards Virginia II, Scorpion ran into a hawser strung between the former ship and the gunboat CSS Beaufort,[12] losing her torpedo and spar in the process.

Scorpion was found to have taken on water, and after the Union illuminated the area with a Drummond light, the efforts to rescue the vessel were abandoned.