SS Christopher Columbus - Regular Service

Regular Service

After the exposition ended the Columbus entered passenger service, and an additional deck (third superstructure, fifth total) was added during the 1899–1900 winter season. Despite the Columbus' success at the exposition, and McDougall's promotional efforts, the whaleback design never caught on. By 1900, the last whalebacks had been built in Superior: the Alexander McDougall in 1899 (the last powered ship), and the John Smeaton, the last whaleback barge. The American Steel Barge Company was sold to the American Ship Building Company, becoming their Superior Works, and switched to more conventional laker designs.

In 1899 the Columbus was leased to and operated by the Goodrich Transit Line, whose steamer Virginia had been a perennial racing rival. She changed hands in 1905 to the Milwaukee & Chicago Transportation company – possibly a Goodrich holding company – and again in 1909 to Goodrich Transit Line. Her livery was at some point between 1906 and 1909 changed to a black hull with yellow accents, and she was placed in service on the route between Chicago and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Columbus remained with the Goodrich line for several years. Although she was used for excursions elsewhere around the Great Lakes, her regular schedule was a daily trip to Milwaukee, leaving Chicago mid-morning, sailing to Milwaukee for a two-hour stopover, and then returning (see advertisement right). She made daily round-trip excursions from the Goodrich docks at the Rush Street Bridge.

Columbus had at least three accidents. In June 1895 she suffered an explosion caused by a steam pipe becoming disconnected while she was underway. Accounts differ, but some claim that this happened during a race with her rival, Virginia. In July 1905, she collided with the schooner Ralph Campbell in the Chicago River. On June 30, 1917, she was involved in her most serious accident, a collision with a water tower. The collision happened in Milwaukee while she was being maneuvered by tugs away from her dock. The Milwaukee River current caught her, spinning her sideways, and her bow sheared off two legs of the Yahr-Lang Drug Company's water tower, toppling it and flooding Columbus' decks with about 25,000 US gallons (95,000 l). The collision killed 16 passengers and severely damaged her pilot house, putting her out of service for the rest of the year.

The Columbus was one of the first ships to be fitted with an on-board radio, installed by 1909, when she was allocated the call letters "KC". Columbus and the SS Chicago used radio to help coordinate the rescue of over 200 passengers from the Goodrich liner City of Racine when the Racine was disabled off Waukegan, Illinois, in Lake Michigan.

In 1915, the SS Eastland capsized while docked in the Chicago River, with the loss of over 800 lives. Officials subsequently ordered many passenger ships to undergo stability testing, which the Columbus passed easily. Even with 7,500 sandbags (simulating passengers) piled on one side, and tugboats pulling in that direction, she listed only 12 degrees. Columbus was featured at the Century of Progress exhibition in Chicago in 1932–33.