COLUMBIA CA 16

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Columbia Class Cruiser
Keel Laid 30 December 1890 - Launched 26 July 1892


1. USS COLUMBIA Cruiser No. 12
Commissioned 23 April 1894 - Decommissioned 13 May 1897
Recommissioned 15 March 1898 - Decommissioned 31 March 1899
Recommissioned as Receiving Ship 31 August 1902 - 8 November 1903
Reassigned to Atlantic Training Squadron 9 November 1903
Decommissioned 3 May 1907
Recommissioned as Flagship - Submarine Flotilla 22 June 1915 - 19 April 1917
Reassigned as Flagship - Squadron 5, Patrol Force 21 April 1917 - July 1917
Reassigned to Cruiser Force July 1917 as Convoy Escort
Reassigned as Flagship - Squadron 2, Destroyer Force 7 January 1919 - 29 May 1919


2. USS COLUMBIA CA-16
Reclassified (CA) 17 July 1920
Decommissioned 29 June 1921

Renamed "OLD COLUMBIA" 17 November 1921, while in reserve

Struck from Naval Register 26 January 1922
Sold 21 June 1922

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Columbia C-12 Covers Page 1     (1916-1920)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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2nd Commissioning March 15 1898 to March 31 1899

 

USPO Machine cancel "Ship Letter" New York NY

1898-07-22

1898 Cover from Soldier in 6th Illinois Volunteers on Board "USS Columbia" off Santiago, envelope endorsed "Soldiers letter/ B. Kopke, Co. I, 6th Rgt, Ill Vol", unfranked envelope with US flag cc, addressed to Illinois, New York Jul 22 Ship letter "opera glass" cancel with additional "Due 2 Cents: circular handstamp, 2c due affixed and cancelled, backstamped Amboy, Ill 25 July, diagonal bend lower right, Fine, the cover was likely handed over to another ship during re-coaling in Guantanamo Bay on July 16; ex-Hosking. The 6th Illinois Volunteers, Co. I, left for Cuba aboard the Columbia in early July but the Spanish forces at Santiago, their destination, had surrendered by the time they arrived. They were subsequently dispatched to Puerto Rico. From the Gary B. Weiss collection.

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3rd Commissioning August 31 1902 to May 3 1907

 

USPO Flag Machine cancel Boston MA

1907-04-13

Picture postcard, copyright date of 1898.

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4th Commissioning June 22 1915 to June 29 1921

 

Locy Type 1u

1920-04-07 to 1920-04-08

Note:

 

Locy Type 1z

1919-01-20

Sailor's mail

 

Locy Type 3s (AC)

1921-06-11

Picture postcard of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, sender was a visitor on the ship.

 

Locy Type 3s (AC)

1921-06-11

Picture postcard of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, sender was a visitor on the ship.

 

Other Information

USS COLUMBIA earned the Navy Expeditionary Medal (3 awards), the Spanish Campaign Medal, the Cuban Pacification Medal and the World War I Victory Medal w/ Atlantic Fleet Clasp during her Naval career.

NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Columbia, South Carolina.

Nine ships of the US Navy have borne the name COLUMBIA - USS Columbia (1836 50-gun Sailing Frigate), USS Columbia (1862 Screw Steamer), USS Columbia (1864 Ironclad), USS Columbia CA-16, USS Columbia AG-9, USS Columbia CL-56, USS Columbia AOT-182, USS Columbia SSN-771 and USS Columbia SSBN-826.

The ships sponsor was Miss H. Morton.

 

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