SS Katoomba

Katoomba leaving Fremantle in 1926
History
Name	1913–49 Katoomba 1949–59 Columbia
Namesake	1913–49 Katoomba, NSW 1949–59 Columbia
Owner	1913–59 McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co 1949–52 Cia. Maritima del Este SA 1952–59 Neptune Shipping Co
Operator	1913–18, 1920–42, 1946–49 McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co 1918–20 UK Government 1942–46 Australian Government 1949–59 Ormos Shipping Co
Port of registry	1913–49 Melbourne 1949–59 Panama City
Route	1913–18 Sydney – Fremantle 1946–47 Piraeus – New York 1947–49 France – French West Indies 1950–57 Bremen – Montreal 1957 Liverpool – Quebec
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	437
Launched	10 April 1913
Completed	10 July 1913
Refit	1920, 1946, 1949
Identification	UK official number 132443 code letters JCPH (until 1933) call sign VHN (until 1933) pennant number D610 (1918–20) call sign VJDY (from 1934)
Fate	Scrapped 1959
General characteristics
Type	passenger ship
Tonnage	9,424 GRT, 5,499 NRT
Length	468 ft (143 m) length overall 450.4 ft (137.3 m) registered length
Beam	60.3 ft (18.4 m)
Draught	26 ft 11 in (8.20 m)
Depth	34.2 ft (10.4 m)
Decks	2
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion engines 1 × low pressure turbine 3 × screws
Speed	cruising speed 15 knots (28 km/h) top speed 17 knots (31 km/h)
Capacity	as built: 209 1st class, 192 2nd class, 156 3rd class passengers 1949 refit: 52 1st class, 752 2nd class cargo: included 8,650 cubic feet (245 m3) refrigerated space
Troops	about 2,000
Crew	as built: 170

SS Katoomba was a passenger steamship that was built in Ireland 1913, spent most of her career in Australian ownership and was scrapped in Japan in 1959. McIlwraith, McEacharn & Co owned her for more than three decades, including two periods when she was a troopship. In 1946 the Goulandris brothers bought her for their Greek Line and registered her in Panama. In 1949 she was renamed Columbia.

In Australian civilian service Katoomba mostly worked scheduled coastal routes, initially between Sydney and Fremantle. For Greek Line she mostly worked transatlantic routes between Europe and North America, and her passengers included European emigrants. Between 1947 and 1949 Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) chartered her for service between France and the French West Indies.

The ship was refitted in 1920, 1946 and 1949. She was a coal-burner until her 1949 refit, when she was converted to burn oil. Columbia was damaged by fires in 1952 and 1957 and a collision in 1956. She was laid up from 1957 and scrapped in 1959.