SS Columbus (1924)

The "Columbus", laid down before the start of World War I, was originally to be named "Hindenburg". However, her then-sister, originally named "Columbus", was handed over to the White Star Line after the war as part of reparations in 1920. The Allies allowed North German (Norddeutsch) Lloyd (NDL), her owners, to keep the remaining ship. NGL decided to give her the name of her departed sister, now the British "Homeric". Construction, which had been held up by the war, resumed at Schichau Shipyards in Danzig, Germany.

Construction and maiden voyage

Material shortages caused by the war delayed her completion until 1924. She made her maiden voyage in April of that year. At the time, she was the German merchant marine's largest, fastest ocean liner. She measured 32,354 gross tons, was 774.3 feet in length and carried 1,250 passengers (400 in First Class, 600 in Second and 650 Third Class passengers). She was one of the first liners to have an outside swimming pool installed on her top deck, as well as a platform for nighttime dancing. She had triple-expansion steam engines which drove her at a rather modest 18 knots. Still, she was quite popular and convinced NGL that larger passenger liners were feasible.

Later career

With the building of the "Bremen" and "Europa", the "Columbus" was supplanted as the queen of the NGL fleet. In 1929, she was given a refit to make her resemble her younger, larger and faster running mates. This included the addition of two larger smokestacks and a refit of her engines, increasing her speed from 18 knots to 22 knots. She spent the winter months cruising the Caribbean.

At the outbreak of World War II in September of 1939, "Columbus" was on one of these cruises when she was given word to return to Germany at once. The British Navy was on the lookout for enemy ships. Dropping her passengers off at Havana, Cuba, her captain and crew spent two months dodging the British by taking refuge in several South American ports. On December 19, she was spotted by the British destroyer "Hyperion" approximately 400 miles off the coast of Virginia. The still neutral American heavy cruiser "Tuscaloosa" was also in the area, and silently observed the two ships. Rather than surrender the ship, her crew scuttled her, and she burned and sank. Her crew of 567 men and 9 women were taken aboard "Tuscaloosa", as rescued seamen, not prisoners of war, had they been picked up by the British. "Tuscaloosa" took the sailors to New York City, after which many returned to Germany.

External links

* [http://classicliners.nicholaswwilson.com/ships/columbus.htm The Classic Liners of Long Ago: "Columbus"]
* [http://bryking.com/columbus/career.html SS Columbus, the largest and the fastest German ship]