Here is a list of  ships named Columbia.

Most information is licenced under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License and attributed to Wikipedia. Star Trek vessel information is primarily attributed by Memory Alpha under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

 

Columbia Rediviva (commonly known as the Columbia) was a privately owned ship under Captain Robert Gray, best known for going to the Pacific Northwestfor the fur trade. The “Rediviva” (Latin “revived”) was added to her name upon a rebuilding in 1787. Since Columbia was privately owned, she did not carry the prefix designation USS.

The ship was built in 1773 by James Briggs at Hobart’s Landing on North River, in Norwell, Massachusetts and named Columbia. In 1790 she became the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. During the first part of this voyage she was accompanied by the Lady Washington which served as tender for the Columbia. In 1792 Captain Gray entered the Columbia River and named it after the ship. The ship was decommissioned and salvaged in 1806. (From Wikipedia)

USS Columbia A 44-gun frigate Columbia was under construction at the Washington Navy Yard, but was burned in 1814 to prevent capture by the British.  (From Wikipedia)

The USS Columbia of the United States Navy was a 50-gun sailing frigate. She was built at Washington Navy Yard. Her keel was laid in 1825, but as was typical of much Navy construction during this period, she was not launched until 9 March 1836.

On her first cruise, from May 1838 to June 1840 with Lieutenant George A. Magruder in command, Columbia rounded the Cape of Good Hope to become flagship of Commodore George C. Read in the East Indies. She returned to the United States by way of Cape Horn, becoming one of the first U.S. naval ships to circumnavigate the globe.

Columbia served as flagship of the Home Squadron from January to May 1842; cruised on Brazil Station between July 1842 and February 1844 and in the Mediterranean from May to December 1844. She returned to the Brazil Station as flagship between November 1845 and October 1847, and was placed in ordinary at Norfolk Navy Yard upon her return home. Except for a cruise as flagship of the Home Squadron from January 1853 to March 1855, she remained at Norfolk until the outbreak of the American Civil War. Columbia was scuttled and burned by Union forces to avoid her capture by Confederates upon the surrender of Norfolk Navy Yard 21 April 1861. Following the close of the war she was raised and sold at Norfolk 10 October 1867 (From Wikipedia)

USS Columbia (1862) was a steamer captured by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy to patrol navigable waterways of the Confederacy to prevent the South from trading with other countries.

Columbia, a screw steamer was captured 3 August 1862 by Santiago de Cuba while running the blockade off the coast of Florida; purchased by the Navy from the Key West, Florida, Prize Court 4 November 1862; outfitted at New York Navy Yard; and commissioned sometime in December, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant J. P. Couthouy in command.

While serving with the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off Wilmington, North Carolina, Columbia ran aground and was wrecked off Masonboro Inlet 14 January 1863.

CSS Columbia was an ironclad ram in the Confederate States Navy and later in the United States Navy.

Columbia was constructed under contract at Charleston, South Carolina in 1864, of yellow pine and white oak with iron fastenings and 6 inch (150 mm) iron plating. Hull work was done by F. M. Jones to John L. Porter’s plans, plating and machinery by James M. Eason; her casemate was shortened to conserve precious metal and clad with 6″ iron. Columbia was launched in March 1864 and entered service later in that year.

When the Union forces took possession of Charleston on February 18, 1865, they found the greatly prized Columbia in jeopardy near Fort Moultrie; while on duty as part of the defenses of Charleston, she had run on a sunken wreck and been damaged on January 12, 1865. Columbia was found to have had her guns and some armor plating removed and ship-worms already at work.

She was raised on April 26 and placed under the command of Lieutenant G. W. Hayward, USN. Columbia was towed by USS Vanderbilt to Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she arrived May 25, 1865. Columbia was drydocked on June 5 and repairs were begun, but on June 15, she was decommissioned and placed in ordinary. Her hulk was sold October 10, 1867.

The fourth USS Columbia (C-12/CA-16) was the lead ship of her class.She was an unarmored protected cruiser in the United States Navy during the Spanish-American War and World War I. She was the lead ship of her class of two cruisers; her sister ship was Minneapolis (C-13). The class was originally designed with three funnels; variations at the yard resulted in Columbia being built with four and Minneapolis with two.

Columbia was launched 26 July 1892 by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; sponsored by Miss H. Morton; and commissioned 23 April 1894, Captain George Watson 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. She 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, in reserve at Philadelphia Navy Yard 13 May 1897.

Recommissioned 15 March 1898 for service in the Spanish-American war 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 placed in reserve at Philadelphia Navy Yard 31 March 1899.

Following recommissioning on 31 August 1902 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. After cruising between the various Atlantic submarine bases on inspection tours she was detached 19 April 1917.

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 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 but continued cruising until decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard 29 June 1921.

Classified CA-16, 17 July 1920, she was renamed Old Columbia 17 November 1921 and sold 26 January 1922.

USS Great Northern (AG-9) was a Great Northern-class cargo ship acquired by the United States Navy for use as a general cargo ship.

USS Columbia 1921Great Northern was built by William Cramp & Sons in 1915; acquired from her owners, Great Northern Pacific Steamship Co. on 19 September 1917, by the USSB; converted to a transport at the Puget Sound Navy Yard; and commissioned there on 1 November 1917, Captain W. W. Phelps in command.

On 19 November 1921, Great Northern‘s name was changed by Presidential order to Columbia to honor a name long famous in Navy annals. She remained in New York harbor, functioning as a floating command post, through the rest of 1921. Columbia sailed for the Caribbean to join the annual Atlantic Fleet winter exercises on 7 January 1922, reaching Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, via Charleston and Key West, Florida on 18 January. Three days later she joined the battleships Wyoming, Arkansas, North Dakota, and Delaware at Guantanamo Bay.

Columbia sailed north on 24 February, reaching New York on 27 February. That same day, Admiral Jones shifted his flag to Maryland, and Columbia sailed for Chester, Pennsylvania. She decommissioned there on 4 March 1922 and was transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board. Returning to merchant service, she was renamed H. F. Alexander with Canadian Pacific Lines until 1942, when she was taken over by the War Shipping Administration for use as a troop transport.

 

USS Columbia (CL-56) was one of 26 United States Navy Cleveland-class light cruisers completed during or shortly after World War II. The ship, the sixth US Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the city of Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia was commissioned in July 1942, and saw service in several campaigns in the Pacific. Like almost all her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, and never saw active service again. Columbia was scrapped in the early 1960s. A memorial to the ship and men who served on her exists in Columbia, SC.

 

Columbia Command module of the Apollo 11 lunar landing. Launched July 16, 1969 she was the first space faring Columbia. Her crew of 3 consisted of Neil Armstrong Commander, Edwin “Buzz”Aldrin Lunar Module Pilot, and Michael Collins Command Module pilot. On July 20, 1969 Armstrong and Aldrind took Columbia’s companion craft Eagle down to the first lunar landing of mankind. Columbia and er cre returned safely to Earth July 24, 1969.  Columbia currentky resides in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

 

Columbia OV-102 The first reusable spacecraft built by the United states of America. Columbia made her maiden voyage April 12, 1981. Columbia became the workhorse of the shuttle fleet for science missions. She would never get to fly to the International Space Station like her sister orbiters due to her weight. All other Orbiters which were built later had many weight saving measures incorporated into them. NASA had managed to reduce enough of the vehicles weight that she could make limited flights to the Space Station carying small cargo loads and crew exchanges but she was never given the chance to do do. Over her career Columbia flew to low earth Orbit 28 times. Her final flight launched January 16, 2003. Columbia was lost with her seven member crew February 1, 2003 when she was destroyed on reentry. Columbia flew on missions STS-1,2,3,4,5,9, 61C, 28, 32, 35, 40, 50, 52, 55, 58, 62, 65, 73, 75, 78, 80, 83, 94, 87, 90, 93, 109, 107

In August 2011 at the official retirement ceremony for the space shuttle program, 4 time shuttle flyier Elen Ochoa had this to say about Columbia.

“Columbia: From the day she first arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in March 1979 until the day we lost her over the skies of Texas, Columbia served as the vanguard for the space shuttle program, a beloved reminder of American ingenuity and the invincible human spirit.”

 

USS Columbia (SSN-771)

a Los Angeles-class submarine, was the eighth ship of the United States Navy to bear that name. The earlier Columbia‘s were given their names for differing reasons; SSN-771 was specifically named in honor of Columbia, South Carolina, Columbia, Missouri, and Columbia, Illinois. There are other USS Columbia‘s in the United States; see that disambiguation page for a complete list.

The contract to build Columbia was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 14 December 1988 and her keel was laid down on 21 April 1993. She was launched on 24 September 1994 with the traditional slide down a 1300-foot wooden ramp, the last American submarine expected to be launched in this dramatic fashion. Future submarines built in the United States will be launched by flooding the dry dock where they are built. Columbia was sponsored by Hillary Rodham Clinton, and commissioned on 9 October 1995, with Commander Dale Govan in command.  Commander Dennis J. Klein later took comm and of the Columbia.

 

Columbia (NX-02) was the second Starfleet NX-class starship in service during the mid-22nd century, as well as the second in Earth’s fleet to have a warp five engine. Compared to the class prototype, Enterprise, Columbia possessed advanced polarized hull plating, improved 12% above initial designs.

Columbia also featured ventral and dorsal photonic torpedo launchers as well as pulsed phase cannons (a relatively new technology). Other improvements included an upgraded navigational deflector, improved computer interface technology and a modified bridge interior, utilizing stations that were tied directly into the primary EPS junction. (ENT: “Home“)

Spaceframe and major structural elements of the NX-02, however, were generally identical to that of her predecessor.

Columbia was lost and presumed destroyed with all hands while on convoy duty just prior to the outbreak of the Earth Romulan War. It is believed she was destroyed in a Romulan attack. All convoy vessels were also destroyed. 

The SS Columbia was a Federation survey vessel Declaration Class in the 23rd century.

The Columbia crashed on Talos IV in 2236 while on a survey expedition in the unexplored Talos star group for the American Continent Institute under Dr. Theodore Haskins. The only survivor of the crash was Vina. (TOS: “The Cage“, “The Menagerie, Part I“, “The Menagerie, Part II“)

The USS Columbia (NCC-621) was a Federation scout in service in the 23rd century.Columbia was a Hermes class scout ship designed to patrol the edges of Federation space to map new star systems as well as provide inteligence information on Klingon and Romulan activity. Columbia like many of her sisters was later refitted with newer technology in the 2270′s mush of the same technology used to upgrade the Constitution class was also used on the Hermes class vessels.

In the mid-2270s, Columbia was ordered to rendezvous with the USS Revere on Stardate 7411.4 by Commodore Probert. The orders were relayed through the Epsilon IX station. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture).

The Columbia was decomissioned and placed in the fleet museum in 2293. With newer ship classes like the Exelsior and Oberth class coming online it was decided the Hermes class was to be phased out. The newer more capable vessels it was determined could more easily do the job.

 

USS Columbia NCC-2049 The latest starship to bear the name Columbia. The new vessel is of the advanced Excelsior class of Heavy Cruisers and more specfficaly of the Enterprise B subclass. The Columbia was launched January 23, 2295 on her shakedown cruise under the command of then Commodore now Rear Admiral Jason Schreck. The Columbia is currently assigned to patrol the Romulan Neutral Zone.

(Note on possible future service of this vessel. The novel Star Trek The Dominion War makes reference to a USS Columbia that was assigned to Earth’s defense during the Dominion war in the 24th century under the command of Captain Rick Husband. Considering the longevity of the Excelsior class it is possible this could be the same vessel as no class or registration was given. In the novel the ship assisted the Enterprise in trying to repel the Breen Attack on Earth in the last months of the war.)