In her day, the Columba was a magnificent vessel and is perhaps the best known of the steamers that ever sailed on the Clyde. Launched from the yard of J. & G. Thomson at Clydebank on April 11th, 1878, she was over 301 feet long by 27 feet broad and 9 feet in depth, dimensions that were not exceeded for a century. She had a simple oscillating two-cylinder engine served by four boilers that propelled her at 18 knots on her daily schedule from the Broomielaw to Ardrishaig and back. While her engine room was rather old fashioned, in every other way, Columba reached the forefront of convention. Her saloons, fore and aft, were the full width of the hull providing excellent accommodation for her passengers, and her passengers ranged from the simple highlander to the elite of British society making its way to the shooting and fishing estates on the West Coast, to foreign tourists...