Commissioned for the first stage of the "Royal Route" to Loch Fyne, she was the flagship of the MacBrayne fleet from 1879 to 1935 and is often considered the finest Clyde steamer of all time.

[2] She brought new elegance and comfort to Scottish travel, and typified the mid-Victorian tourist steamer at its best.

All of Columba's distinguished career was on the first leg of "The Royal Route" from Glasgow to Ardrishaig, calling at Rothesay and the Kyles of Bute.

The route, so named after Queen Victoria sailed from the Clyde in 1847,[3] was used by the cream of Victorian and Edwardian society to reach estates in the Highlands.

In the early 1970s, her name was honoured in the building of the Anderston Centre regeneration complex - along with that of fellow Clyde steamers the SS Dalraida and SS Davaar - the names of these three vessels were applied to the centre's three residential tower blocks in reference to the Anderston docks which they regularly visited.