Columbia IV (Cruiser No. 12)
1894-1921
Named for the District of Columbia.
IV
(Cruiser No.12: displacement 7,375 (normal); length 413'1"; beam 58'2" (extreme); draft 22'7" (mean); speed 21.0 knots; complement 477; armament 1 8-inch, 2 6-inch, 8 4-inch, 12 6-pounders, 4 1-pounders; 4 18-inch torpedo tubes (surface); class Columbia)
The fourth Columbia (Cruiser No. 12) was laid down on 30 December 1890 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co.; launched on 26 July 1892; and sponsored by Miss Helen Morton, daughter of the Honorable Levi P. Morton, the Vice President of the United States.
Commissioned on 23 April 1894, Capt. George W. Sumner in command, Columbia joined the North Atlantic Squadron, and from 30 July 1894 to 5 January 1895 cruised to protect American interests in the Caribbean.
Columbia visited Europe in the summer of 1895 and represented the United States at the ceremonial opening of the Kiel Canal in June. Returning to the east coast in August, she operated in the western Atlantic until going in ordinary [a non-commissioned status], in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 13 May 1897.
Recommissioned on 15 March 1898 for service in the Spanish-American War, Lt. Cmdr. John H. Moore in command, Columbia patrolled along the Atlantic coast and in the West Indies until 26 August.
She convoyed troops to Puerto Rico and aided in its occupation between July and 14 August. Columbia was decommissioned and again placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 31 March 1899.
Following recommissioning on 31 August 1902, Capt. Albert S. Snow in command, Columbia served as receiving ship at New York and from 9 November 1903 as a part of the Atlantic Training Squadron. Once more out of commission at Philadelphia between 3 May 1907 and 22 June 1915 the cruiser then joined the Submarine Flotilla as flagship, Cmdr. Yates Stirling, Jr.,in command. After cruising between the various Atlantic submarine bases on inspection tours she was detached on 19 April 1917, shortly after the United States entered hostilities against the Central Powers.
Columbia patrolled off the Delaware Breakwater from 21 April 1917 as flagship of Squadron 5, Patrol Force, until July where she joined the Cruiser Force as a convoy escort. Between 1 January and 13 November 1918 she made five Atlantic escort voyages, protecting the passage of men and supplies for the American Expeditionary Force in France. On her detachment on 7 January 1919, she became flagship of Squadron 2, Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, operating along the east coast and in the Caribbean. She was relieved as flagship on 29 May.
Classified as a heavy cruiser, CA-16, on 17 July 1920, Columbia was decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 29 June 1921. Renamed Old Columbia on 17 November 1921, the ship was sold on 26 January 1922.
Updated and corrected, Robert J. Cressman
6 August 2024
