| Navy | The Royal Dutch Navy |
| Type | Submarine Depot Ship |
| Class | |
| Pennant | |
| Built by | P. Smit (Rotterdam, Holland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | , 1929 |
| Launched | , 1930 |
| Commissioned | 18 Aug, 1941 |
| Lost | 27 Feb, 1943 |
| Loss position | 33.36S, 27.29E (See a map) |
| History | Former passenger ship of the KNSM. Requisitioned by the Royal Netherlands Navy on 8 November 1940. Converted into a submarine depot ship at Dundee from 1 May to 18 August 1941. HrMs Colombia (Capt. John Louis Karel Hoeke) was en route to Simonstown to dock, escorted by the British corvette HMS Genista and several RAF aircraft. At 1141 hours on 27 February 1943 the German submarine U-516 fired a spread of three torpedoes from a distance of 1500 metres on a ship near Simonstown, which was identified as a passenger-cargo ship of the Blue Star Line of 10.000 tons. Four minutes later, one torpedo struck the Colombia at #2 hold, just before the bridge and a large column of water arose beside the ship, while the deckplanks were thrown in all directions. All hands immediately abandoned ship, apparently without any casualties and the ship sank after ten minutes in position 33º36'S, 27º29'E. A headcount showed that eight men were missing. Almost 60 survivors in one whaleboat were picked up by a RAF air-sea-rescue launch. The corvette initially launched a counter-attack, but she returned soon and picked up the remaining survivors. For more information on this ship see this website (offsite link). Hit by U-boat |
