SS Columbia (1894)

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

History
France
Name:	1894-1912:SS Columbia 1912-1915:SS Sitges 1915-1918:SS Corse
Operator:	1894-1912:London and South Western Railway 1912-1915:J.J. Sitges Freres, Alicante 1915-1918:French Navy
Port of registry:
Builder:	J and G Thomson, Clydebank
Yard number:	274
Launched:	4 September 1894
Out of service:	24 January 1918
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk
General characteristics
Type:	passenger vessel/troopship
Tonnage:	1,145 gross register tons (GRT)
Length:	270.7 feet (82.5 m)
Beam:	34 feet (10 m)
Draught:	14.6 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.