Sending the new cruiser to the Kiel Canal opening made her speed and appearance instruments of national prestige despite limited protection. Her period in ordinary also included a fatal 1896 accident when the passenger steamer Wyanoke struck the anchored Columbia and sank, causing four deaths by drowning or later injuries. Columbia also patrolled the Caribbean, supported the occupation of Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American War, and later served as a receiving and training ship. After another long reserve period, she became a submarine-flotilla flagship and visited Atlantic bases on inspection tours. Five escort voyages protecting the American Expeditionary Force in 1918 show how an older prestige cruiser could be redirected to practical wartime work.
Chapter · 31:40-37:29
USS Columbia shifts from prestige cruiser to convoy escort
Columbia's career moves from diplomatic display and Caribbean patrols to training, submarine-flotilla command, and First World War convoy escort.