SS Columbia

[MrPrince]

I'm sure that all our hearts go out to the families of the crew that tragically died when SS Columbia exploded. I have a question about Columbia that someone may be able to answer. What does the 'SS' in SS Columbia stand for? Is it space ship or star ship or whatever? I know it stands for steam ship in the olden days E.G. SS Great Britain.

[sddsddean]

I would think it most likely stood for 'Space Shuttle', but to be honest I have only ever heard of them referred to as 'the Columbia','the Challenger' etc. As you say SS for ships is 'Steam Ship'. The one most people get wrong, is the prefix for the old big liners (Titanic, Olympic, Lusitania to name but a few). These were all RMS which stands for 'Royal Mail Ship'.

[mikewall01]

Just a thought. Amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic ........ progress ?