- Date
- circa 1917
- Kind
- Disaster
- Where
- Charlevoix
- Participants
- Columbia (vessel_lost) · Charlie Roe (captain) · Patrick “Pat” O’Donnell (engineer)
- Eras
- Modern era
- Concepts
- maritimeshippingtransportationheritage
- Within
- Charlevoix
Summary
The Columbia burned and sank at an overnight dock south of Round Lake in Charlevoix after a suspected bilge fire. The April 1975 Beaver Tales retrospective says a red-hot clinker may have ignited oil in the bilge; the dock and coal sheds also burned before the vessel sank.
Evidence and limits
This is a source-qualified historical account. The Beacon does not establish an exact loss date, official accident finding, or complete vessel record.
Sources
- The retrospective says the Columbia burned at an overnight dock south of Round Lake in Charlevoix after a red-hot clinker was suspected of igniting an oil-soaked bilge. Bucket brigades and hand pumpers failed, and the vessel sank after the dock and coal sheds burned. It gives no exact loss date. The holding institution's portal restricts automated access; the archive holds a copy of this issue and can provide it on request.data1 · beaver-island-archive · beaver_beacon · 1975-04_Beaver-Beacon
- The held issue confirms the retrospective account of the Columbia fire, dock fire, and sinking.data1 · beaver-island-archive · scans · beaver_beacon · issues · 1975-04_Beaver-Beacon
Added 3 August 2026. Recent changes
Cite this article
Beaver Island Archive, “Columbia burns and sinks at a Charlevoix dock, circa 1917”, https://beaverislandarchive.org/events/burning-and-sinking-of-columbia-1917/, accessed [date], citing Beaver Beacon, April 1975, “Beaver Tales.” (and 1 further source listed on the page).
Last revised 2026-08-03. Fill in [date] with the date you read it — this page is static and cannot know that.
BibTeX for “Columbia burns and sinks at a Charlevoix dock, circa 1917”RIS for “Columbia burns and sinks at a Charlevoix dock, circa 1917”