SS Columbia (1894)

SS Columbia was a passenger vessel built for the London and South Western Railway in 1894.[1]

This article is about the British passenger vessel. For other uses, see List of ships named SS Columbia.

History
United Kingdom, France
Name
  • 1894-1912:SS Columbia
  • 1912-1915:SS Sitges
  • 1915-1918:SS Corse
Operator
Port of registryUnited Kingdom
BuilderJ and G Thomson, Clydebank
Yard number274
Launched4 September 1894
FateTorpedoed and sunk 24 January 1918
General characteristics
TypePassenger vessel/troopship
Tonnage1,145 gross register tons (GRT)
Length270.7 feet (82.5 m)
Beam34 feet (10 m)
Draught14.6 feet (4.5 m)

History

The ship was built by J and G Thomson of Clydebank and launched on 4 September 1894,[2] sponsored by a Miss Alderson. Columbia was one of an order for two ships, the other being Alma. She was intended for the fast passenger mail service operated by the railway company between Southampton and Le Havre.

On 13 February 1898, Columbia collided with the French fishing-smack Gazelle. Of the crew of eight French fishermen, only two were rescued.[3]

In 1912, Columbia was sold to J. J. Sitges Freres of Alicante, Spain, and renamed Sitges. He was acquired by the French Navy in 1915 for World War I service as a troopship and renamed 'Corse'. Corse was sunk on 24 January 1918 in the Mediterranean Sea off La Ciotat, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-67. Her crew survived.[4]

References
  1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
  2. "New Passenger Steamer". The Star. Scotland. 6 September 1894. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "A fatal collision…". Grantham Journal. England. 19 February 1898. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Corse". Uboat.net. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
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