A second pilot-boat, also named Columbia, was built by Ambrose A. Martin at East Boston in 1894 that had a unique spoon bow and was extremely fast.

She was thrown ashore in the great Portland Gale, and remained on the Sand Hills beach in Scituate, Massachusetts for over thirty years as a marine curiosity.

The original Columbia, was launched on November 15, 1879 by the C. & R. Poillon shipyard at the foot of Bridge Street, Brooklyn, New York.

The boat was built for Captain Augustus Van Pelt and other New York pilots, to take the place of the Isaac Webb, pilot-boat No.

The company of captains that owned the Columbia were: Augustus Van Pelt, Benjamin Simonson, Henry Seguine, Stephen H. Jones, Christopher M. Wolf, and Daniel V.

8 placed a pilot on board the inbound Guion Line steamship Arizona, twenty-five miles from Sandy Hook.

The report of the loss of the Columbia showed the danger that pilots encountered when trying to board a steamship in rough weather.

The names of the six pilots that perished were: Christian Wolf, Thomas H. Metcalf, Ralph Noble, Charles Arnold, William White, and Abraham Jones.

[7][12][10] Henry Seguine, one of the surviving owners, said that Captain Murray of the Alaska should have let his engines remain quiet to avoid the accident and allow the pilot to board the vessel.

They wanted a more up-to-date vessel to challenge the Hesper, Varuna, and other faster boats of the Boston fleet.

[17] On November 26, 1898, while returning to Boston from the outer station, after putting Thomas Cooper, William Abbott, John Fawcett, Joseph Fawcett and Axel Olsen aboard incoming vessels, the Columbia was driven ashore at the notorious Sand Hills beach in Scituate in the great Portland Gale with the loss of all five men aboard.

When the railroad line was open, Captain Cooper went to see the wreck, and realizing she could not be salvaged, sold her to a marine junk dealer for $300.