SS Columbia (1880)

Construction and outfitting After attending Thomas Edison's New Year's Eve lighting demonstration in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Henry Villard, president of the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company became enthusiastic of Edison's work. Villard subsequently ordered an Edison Lighting System to be installed on his company's new passenger steamer, Columbia. Although met with hesitation by Edison himself, the project moved forward, making the installation onboard Columbia Edison's first commercial order for the light bulb. Columbia would also be the first ship to utilize a dynamo. The success of Columbia experimental dynamo system led to the system being retrofitted on to other vessels. That same year, the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company had bought and merged the Oregon Steamship Company into its own operations. Construction of Columbia began in September 1879. Columbia was launched at 11:40 am on February 24, 1880. Both the Bureau Veritas and American Shipmasters' Association oversaw her construction. Roach himself refused to install the incandescent light bulbs on board Columbia in fear of a possible fire breaking out. Maiden voyage Columbia finished her sea trials and sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco, California loaded with 13 locomotives, 200 railroad cars and other railroad supplies. While passing through the Straits of Magellan, the propeller shaft and rudder were checked using light bulbs attached to a tallow covered cable. The next year, Cunard's SS Servia became the first major ocean liner to be lit up by the incandescent light bulb. In service, the Columbia was greatly appreciated for its reliability. logo is sported on the ship's funnel. During a major overhaul in July 1895, the original Edison generators were removed in favor of modern counterparts. '' in San Francisco on October 3, 1900 Following the sale of its steamship, the Oregon in 1899, the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company considered placing the Columbia and its fellow steamer, the State of California, into Alaskan service to Nome. On October 3, 1900, the Columbia was steaming slowly towards its dock in San Francisco, while the ferryboat Berkeley was preparing to leave her slip. Captain Peter A. Doran of the Columbia and Captain "Jim" Blaker of the Berkeley mis-interpreted each other's signals, which led to the Columbia colliding with the Berkeley, destroying one of the ferry's lifeboats and badly damaging the ''Columbia's bow. Both ships were taken out of service to be repaired following this incident. Another screw steamer owned by the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company, the George W. Elder, temporarily took over the Columbia's route. In 1904, the Columbia and the George W. Elder transferred to a new Union Pacific subsidiary called the San Francisco and Portland Steamship Company. By this time, the Columbia'' was considered to be an outdated vessel. In 1905, the new company was plagued by two unfortunate events. The George W. Elder struck a rock in the Columbia River and sank. She was later refloated and purchased by the North Pacific Steamship Company after being abandoned by her owners. On February 1, 1906, the Columbia collided with a log raft on the Columbia River in dense fog. Luckily, the Columbia was not damaged in the incident. The fog however worsened enough to cause Captain Peter A. Doran to anchor the ship until the fog lifted. dock following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake Columbia was undergoing a refit at the Union Iron Works dock, when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred. The quake caused Columbia to knock off its supports, roll on her starboard side and hit the dock. The ship's large iron hull was damaged filling it partially full of water. It took two months to make the temporary repairs to the vessel. Unfortunately, the hydraulic drydock being used by the Columbia had taken irreparable damage from the liner's iron hull. The drydock had been of great use to the shipyard. Columbia was sent to Hunter's Point for permanent repairs. Along the way, the crew abandoned ship after a steam pipe exploded. Columbia eventually made it to dry dock and repairs were finally done. During her absence, the Columbia was temporarily replaced by the steamer Costa Rica (also owned by the San Francisco and Portland Navigation Company) and the steamer Barracouta, which was being leased from the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. The steamship Aragonia attempted to break through the pack ice and free the Columbia on January 18. The efforts by the Aragonia were successful and allowed Columbia to steam free of the ice via the path Aragonia had cut for her. When Columbia returned to San Francisco, the ship appeared visibly unscathed. ==Design and accommodations==

Columbia, designed by shipwright Edward Faron, was about long with about visible above the waterline. She had a beam of and a depth of . She had two compound condensing steam engines with a and by stroke driving a single Hirsch four-bladed propeller with a diameter of . The propeller had a mean pitch of and could do 65 revolutions per minute. The blades of the propeller were able to be removed individually or all at once. Powering the engine were six boilers with a diameter of and a length of each. Each boiler had a working pressure of . Columbia was a coal-powered steamship, able to carry a maximum of 300 tons of coal within her bunkers. She had an estimated top speed of . She also carried a single donkey boiler and an auxiliary steam engine which powered the bilge and could supply water to the boilers should the fires break out of control. A second auxiliary steam engine powered the ship's electricity. Columbia had an auxiliary Brigantine rig sail plan with over of canvas. The sails would be rigged upon two iron masts. Scientific American later published a large article describing the Edison lighting system aboard Columbia. The wiring insulation was molten paraffin and cotton mix inside a rubber tube casing. The wires were also painted two separate colors to differentiate the negative and positive charges. Overall, the electrical systems aboard the Columbia held little difference from its Menlo Park counterparts. Oil lamps were readily available throughout the vessel in case of a power outage. ==Sinking==

On 20 July 1907, Columbia departed San Francisco, California, with 251 passengers and crew for Portland, Oregon, under the leadership of Captain Peter Doran. 88 passengers and crew, including all the children on board, lost their lives during the sinking of Columbia. Due to the speed of the sinking, many lifeboats were unable to be launched. After the sinking, the lifeboats of Columbia and San Pedro launched a rescue effort assisted by the steamers and George W. Elder, the latter one of ''Columbia's'' old running mates. ==Aftermath of the disaster==

In the wake of the disaster, hull inspector John K. Bulger, who had inspected the hull of Columbia eight months earlier with hull inspector O.F. Bolles (coincidentally the first captain of the Columbia), testified that the ship was up to modern safety standards as Columbia carried four watertight bulkheads where law requires three watertight bulkheads in a ship of her size. Despite this, Bulger also testified should one of Columbia compartments be punctured by a collision, the water would cascade over the ship's bulkheads, allowing the ship to sink. A similar flooding action would occur nearly five years later, during the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. Bulger later re-testified, claiming two flooded compartments onboard Columbia would lead to disaster rather than one compartment being flooded. Despite Bulger's reports, it is likely the bulkheads installed aboard Columbia did little to delay the inrush of water. In addition, an issue of the San Francisco Examiner explained: reflecting the public outrage towards alleged maritime safety violations. The general public believed this to have caused the sinking of Columbia. Of the individuals involved in the Columbia sinking, Captain Doran of the Columbia and First Officer Hendrickson of the San Pedro were found to have the most responsibility for the collision. This led to Hendrickson's license being revoked for five years. In addition, Captain Magnus Hanson of the San Pedro was found to have given insufficient orders to his crew. He also did not come to the schooner's bridge when warned of the fog. Hanson's license was revoked for one year. Despite the errors made by both crews, the survivors and press gave praise to most of the crew members aboard Columbia and San Pedro for their courageous and lifesaving actions exhibited during the disaster. The San Pedro was repaired following the sinking and continued serving along the California coastline until being sold to foreign owners in 1920. She sank that same year. The Punta Gorda Light was established in response to the sinking. Rusting debris from Columbia including a boiler and bulkhead are still visible near the northern section of the Lost Coast Hiking Trail. Between 1899 and 1907, at least eight other ships had met their end in the area, including the St. Paul, whose rusted boilers can still be seen in the surf at Punta Gorda. https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=63 File:SS Columbia 1880.png|Early promotional artwork of the SS Columbia. File:SS Columbia Berkeley Collision damage.png|The damage sustained on ''Columbia's bow from the collision with the Berkeley''. File:San Pedro after colliding with SS Columbia.PNG|Stern view of San Pedro following the accident. File:SS Columbia Log Raft Collision 1906.PNG|An illustration of the Columbia colliding with a log raft on the Columbia River on February 1, 1906. File:SS Columbia 1906 Earthquake II.png|Close up of ''Columbia's'' bow following the 1906 earthquake. File:SS San Pedro Bow Damage.PNG|A close up of the ''San Pedro's bow, showing the damage sustained in the collision with the Columbia''. ==See also==