View source for SS City of Columbus

{{redirect|City of Columbus|cities of the same name|Columbus (disambiguation)#Places{{!}}Columbus#Places}}
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{{ infobox ship image
| Ship image               = City-of-columbus2.jpg
| Ship image size          = 250px
| Ship caption             = ''City of Columbus'' and Revenue Cutter ''Dexter''<BR/>Schell and Hogan, 1884
}}
{{infobox ship career
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| Ship country             = 
| Ship flag                = {{USN flag|1884}}
| Ship name                = SS ''City of Columbus''
| Ship namesake            = 
| Ship owner               = [[Boston & Savannah Steamship Co.]]
| Ship operator            = 
| Ship registry            = 
| Ship route               = 
| Ship ordered             = 
| Ship awarded             = 
| Ship builder             =[[Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]<ref name=King63-69>King, pp 63–69</ref> 
| Ship original cost       = 
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| Ship way number          = 
| Ship launched            = {{Start date|1878|06|19}}
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| Ship in service          = 
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| Ship honors              = 
| Ship fate                = Ran aground January 18, 1884 on Devil's Bridge off [[Martha's Vineyard]]
| Ship notes               = 
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}}
{{infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption           = 
| Ship class               = 
| Ship type                = 
| Ship tonnage             = 2250 grt
| Ship displacement        = 
| Ship tons burthen        =2,200 tons<ref name="King63-69" /> 
| Ship length              ={{convert|275|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam                ={{convert|38|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
| Ship height              = 
| Ship draught             =
| Ship draft               ={{convert|26|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=wreckhunter>"City of Columbus", Hunting New England Shipwrecks, Wreckhunter.net website</ref>  
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| Ship ice class           = 
| Ship power               =1500 hp compound steam engine<ref name="King63-69" /> 
| Ship propulsion          =
| Ship sail plan           =auxiliary sails on two masts, fore and aft<ref name="King63-69" /> 
| Ship speed               =12.5 kt 
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| Ship capacity            =200 passengers, 2500 tons cargo<ref name="King63-69" /> 
| Ship complement          =
| Ship crew                =45 officers and men (January 18, 1884)<ref name="King63-69" />

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The passenger steamer '''''City of Columbus''''' ran aground on Devil's Bridge off the [[Gay Head Cliffs]] in [[Aquinnah, Massachusetts]], in the early hours of January 18, 1884. She was owned by Boston & Savannah Steamship Company and was built in 1878 by [[Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works]], at [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]. ''City of Columbus'' made regular runs from [[Boston, Massachusetts]] to [[Savannah, Georgia]].<ref name="King63-69" />

==The shipwreck==
On January 17, 1884, the steamer ''City of Columbus'' left Boston with a crew of 45 under the command of Captain Schuler E. Wright.<ref name="King63-69" /> Wright was very familiar with the area as he had made numerous trips through the reefs and sound of [[Martha's Vineyard]]. The captain left the ''City of Columbus'''s bridge in the hands of his Second Mate Edward Harding and went below to sleep.<ref name="King63-69" /> While off Martha's Vineyard at 3:45 am on January 18, the lookout yelled to the second mate that the Devil’s Bridge buoy was off the port bow rather than where it should have appeared off the starboard bow just before the ship struck a double ledge of submerged rocks.<ref name=theweek>"Chronicle of the week – Abroad", The Week, 24 Jan 1884, volume 1, issue 8, p 126</ref>{{#tag:ref|King cites 3:15 am as the time of the grounding<ref name=King65>King, p 65</ref>|group=Note}} Harding ordered the Quartermaster, Roderick A. McDonald, to go port followed by Captain Wright's order to "hard port" and once again the ''City of Columbus'' smacked against the reef. Wright attempted in vain to free the ship. Attempts to use the sails only pushed the boat further into the reef.  After these attempts, Wright decided to go over the “obstruction”. This just made things worse. The captain gathered the 87 passengers from below and was in the midst of explaining their situation when a rush of water into the cabin forced all to the top deck, where a giant wave struck the boat and swept all women and children, and many of the men, into the frozen waters.<ref name="King63-69" />

Two lifeboats were launched from the ''City of Columbus'' only to have the ocean waves smash them against the iron sides of the ship. One actually made it to land with four survivors; the other was later found awash, with one survivor, a sea captain who was revived. Passengers and crew attempted to stay afloat in the rough seas by holding onto the rigging of the ship. Lighthouse keeper Horiatio N. Pease and a complement of Gay Head [[Wampanoag people|Wampanoag]] Native Americans, including [[Donald F. Malonson|Donald F. Malonson's]] grandfather, Thomas Manning, braved the waves in two lifeboats to save passengers that had held on. The sea was so rough that the Wampanoags feared approaching the steamer would cause their own boat to get smashed, so they called to the men to dive off the rigging and come to the lifeboats. Most of those who attempted this were saved by the Natives.<ref name="King63-69" />

The rescue effort was then continued when the revenue cutter ''[[USRC Dexter (1874)|Dexter]]'', skippered by Captain Eric Gabrielson, came to their aid. The ''Dexter'', being a smaller ship, was able to move about the wreckage and pull survivors off the rigging and masts. Two of the survivors were unconscious; Second Lieutenant John U. Rhodes saved them by tying himself to a rope and swimming to the wreck. Even after being hit with a piece of wreckage, he continued, climbing the rigging to bring the men back to safety. The ''City of Columbus'' had left Boston with 45 officers and crew and 87 passengers, only 17 crew members and 12 passengers survived the ordeal.<ref name="King63-69" /> This incident was reported as one of the worst ocean disasters of its time.<ref name=GayHeadLight>"History of Gay Head Light, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts", New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide, newenglandlighthouses.net website</ref>

The shipwreck was later purchased by the Boston Towboat Company in 1886, and some parts were salvaged.<ref>[http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?18521 City of Columbus (+1884)] Wrecksite</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll]]

==Notes==
;Footnotes
{{reflist|group=Note}}

;Citations
{{reflist}}

;References cited
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal|title=Chronicle of the week – Abroad|journal=The Week: A Canadian Journal of Politics, Literature, Science and Arts|date=24 Jan 1884|volume=1|issue=8|page=126|url=https://archive.org/stream/weekcanadianjour01toro#page/n64/mode/1up|accessdate=25 April 2013}}
* {{cite web|title=City of Columbus|url=http://www.wreckhunter.net/DataPages/cityofcolumbus-dat.htm|work=Hunting New England Shipwrecks|publisher=Wreckhunter.net website|accessdate=4 November 2013}}
* {{cite web|title=History of Gay Head Light, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts|url=http://www.newenglandlighthouses.net/gay-head-light-history.html|work=New England Lighthouses: A Virtual Guide|publisher=Newenglandlighthouses.net website|accessdate=4 November 2013}} 
* {{cite book|last=King|first=Irving H.|title=The Coast Guard Expands, 1865–1915: New Roles, New Frontiers|year=1996|publisher=Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=978-1-55750-458-6|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/coastguardexpand0000king}}
{{refend}}

{{1884 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:City of Columbus}}
[[Category:Steamships of the United States]]
[[Category:Aquinnah, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1878 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Massachusetts coast]]
[[Category:Martha's Vineyard]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1884]]