The contract to build Columbia was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 14 December 1988 and her keel was laid down on 21 April 1993. She was the 33rd Los Angeles class built by EB, and was launched on 24 September 1994 with the slide down a 1300-foot wooden ramp, the last American submarine to do so, giving her the title of "The Last Slider."