HMCS Rainbow (1891)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

HMCS ''Rainbow'' was an
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
built for Great Britain's
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
as HMS ''Rainbow'' entering service in 1892. ''Rainbow'' saw time in Asian waters before being placed in reserve in 1909. In 1910 the cruiser was transferred to the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
for service on the west coast. At the outbreak of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, ''Rainbow'' was the only major Canadian or British warship on the western coast of North America. Due to age, the cruiser was taken out of service in 1917 and sold for scrap in 1920 and
broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...
.


Design and description

The ''Apollo''-class cruisers were enlarged versions of the preceding . ''Rainbow'' displaced , which made the ship heavier than some of her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s. This was due to being among the ten vessels in the class sheathed in wood and copper for tropical service. This added to their displacement. The ''Apollo''-class cruisers were
long between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...
and
overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
. Sheathed vessels had a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a draught of . The cruisers were propelled by a two shaft, two-cylinder
triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...
powered by steam from three double-ended and two single-ended boilers creating at
natural draught The stack effect or chimney effect is the movement of air into and out of buildings through unsealed openings, chimneys, flue-gas stacks, or other containers, resulting from air buoyancy. Buoyancy occurs due to a difference in indoor-to-outdoor ...
and at
forced draught The difference between atmospheric pressure and the pressure existing in the furnace or flue gas passage of a boiler is termed as draft. Draft can also be referred to as the difference in pressure in the combustion chamber area which results in the ...
. This gave the cruisers a maximum speed of at natural draught and at forced draught. The ''Apollo'' class carried of
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
for fuel. With full bunkers of coal, the cruisers had a range of at .Chesneau and Kolesnik, p. 76 ''Rainbow''s main armament was two single-mounted QF guns placed along the centreline of the
forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
and
poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, ''la poupe'', from Latin ''puppis''. Thus ...
. This was augmented by six QF guns placed three on each side of the
upper deck The Upper Deck Company, LLC (colloquially as Upper Deck and Upper Deck Authenticated, Ltd. in the UK), founded in 1988, is a private company primarily known for producing trading cards. Its headquarters are in Carlsbad, California, United State ...
amidships. The secondary armament of eight QF 6-pounder (57 mm) guns were all situated on the upper deck with four placed between the 4.7-inch guns amidships, two placed forward and aft firing through
embrasure An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions (merlons). Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out ...
d ports. The cruisers were also fitted with four
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, of which three were installed on the upper deck, two broadside abreast the
mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...
and one in the bow. The fourth torpedo tube was situated in the stern on the
main deck The main deck of a ship is the uppermost complete deck extending from bow to stern. A steel ship's hull may be considered a structural beam with the main deck forming the upper flange of a box girder and the keel forming the lower strength me ...
. The ''Apollo'' class had a armoured deck where flat and armoured deck where sloped. The cruisers had a armoured
glacis A glacis (; ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in bastion fort, early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More genera ...
over the hatch where the engine cylinders projected above the deck. The
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
had of armour and the gun shields .


Service history


Royal Navy

''Rainbow'' was ordered as part of the Naval Defence Act of 1889. The vessel's
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
was laid down by Palmers at
Hebburn-On-Tyne Hebburn is a town in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It governed under the borough of South Tyneside; formerly governed under the county of Durham until 1974 with its own urban district from 1894 until 1974. It is on the sou ...
in England on 30 December 1889.Friedman, p. 344 The cruiser was launched on 25 March 1891 and entered service in 1892, completing in January 1893. ''Rainbow'' served on the
China Station The Commander-in-Chief, China was the admiral in command of what was usually known as the China Station, at once both a British Royal Navy naval formation and its admiral in command. It was created in 1865 and deactivated in 1941. From 1831 to 18 ...
in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
from 1895 to 1898 and in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
from 1898 to 1899. She had an operating cost that was deemed excessive and between 1900 and 1909, saw very little service. Most of her operations at this time were closer to England. On 17 December 1901 she was commissioned at Devonport by Captain Thomas Young Greet for service in the cruiser squadron as an additional ship in home waters. She arrived back at Devonport from a tour of the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
with the squadron in April 1902, and took part in the
fleet review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...
held at
Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
on 16 August 1902 for the
coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of King
Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...
. Captain Charles Delabere Granville was appointed in command on 20 August 1902, and visited Souda Bay, Crete, with other ships of the squadron for combined manoeuvres the following month. In October 1902 she was ordered back to Devonport for a refit, and late that year she was again back for temporary service in the Mediterranean to protect British interests in
Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. During the following years, she saw a severe reduction in fleet support due to her high operating cost, resulting in only minor modernization. Her crew rotation at this time was used as a training cycle. In 1904, the cruiser was restricted to harbour duty. In early 1909, the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
ordered her decommissioned and placed on the inactive list.


Royal Canadian Navy

''Rainbow'' was presented to Canada in 1910, and was recommissioned HMCS ''Rainbow'' on 4 August. She and were purchased from the Admiralty to be used as
training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
s at
Royal Naval College of Canada The Royal Naval College of Canada (RNCC) was established by the Department of the Naval Service after the formation of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1910. The college was placed under the auspices of the Minister of Naval Service (and of Marine ...
in
Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...
.Johnston et al., pp. 233–234 During discussions on the type of cruisers to be sent to Canada, the Admiralty believed that the ''Apollo''-class cruiser was the right choice. Canada paid $225,000 to acquire ''Rainbow'', using outstanding money from the Marine and Fisheries Department. Before departing Great Britain, the ships required alterations to make them suitable for training. This required new heating systems, an up-to-date galley, the latest in Marconi wireless, the enlargement of the cadet gunroom and principal messes and the removal of the obsolete secondary armament. After commissioning, ''Rainbow'' was assigned to the west coast of Canada and was the first Canadian ship to sail around South America by the
Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and Tierra del Fuego to the south. The strait is considered the most important natural pass ...
. After a 12-week passage of over the cruiser arrived at
Esquimalt, British Columbia The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquim ...
on 7 November 1910. However, after commissioning, the status of the Canadian vessels and their ability to operate without direction from the Admiralty kept the new ships within coastal waters. This limited ''Rainbow'' to fisheries patrols until the matter was settled. In 1911, the cruiser had her 6-pounder guns removed and replaced with
QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (abbreviated as Q.F. 12-pdr. (12-cwt.)Gun ...
s. Her service was quiet on the west coast, performing ceremonial duties,Macpherson and Barrie, p. 11 training and coastal fisheries patrol, notably apprehending the American fishing
schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
''Edrie'' in February 1913 for illegal fishing. When ''Niobe'' was laid up in 1913, her crew was sent west to fill out ''Rainbow''s complement. In July 1914, ''Rainbow'' was called to
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
to assist with an international incident that was unfolding. ''
Komagata Maru was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1890, was in German ownership until 1913, and then had a succession of Japanese owners until she was wrecked in 1926. She was launched as ''Stubbenhuk'', renamed ''Sicilia'' in 1894, ''Komaga ...
'', a Japanese merchant ship filled with
Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...
immigrants from India, challenged Canada's immigration law, designed to prevent immigration from
South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
. The ship's passengers were not permitted to disembark even though they were British subjects and the ship had sat in Vancouver harbour for two months.Johnston et al., pp. 298–299Gimblett, p. 18 After the local authorities were rebuffed in their attempts to make the ship leave, ''Rainbow'' was ordered to intervene. After some discussion with the passengers, who had taken over the vessel, those aboard ''Komagata Maru'' agreed to leave Vancouver only when supplies for the ship were provided. ''Komagata Maru'' sailed from Vancouver on 23 July, escorted by ''Rainbow''. Twenty of the passengers were killed upon returning to
Budge Budge Budge Budge () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. It is situated on the eastern banks of the Hooghly River. It is a part of the area covered by the ...
, India, after they resisted an attempt to forcibly return them to
Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
. When the First World War broke out, ''Rainbow'' was sent to cover the withdrawal of the British
sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...
, and , which had been engaged protecting British citizens during civil unrest in
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. She was the largest armed ship the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
had at the time in the western Pacific Ocean and was ordered to find and engage ships of the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
in the Pacific Ocean; in particular the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s and . ''Rainbow'' never met either of these ships, although she missed ''Leipzig'' by only a day at
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. The vessel remained the only source of protection for shipping in western North America until the arrival of the Japanese
armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
. Following the destruction of the German Pacific Fleet at the
Battle of the Falkland Islands The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sen ...
in December 1914, the greatest threat to shipping in Pacific was considered to be armed German raiders and ''Rainbow'' was considered to be a match for all but the fastest. However, in 1915, her patrols were shortened due to the lack of a collier to refuel ''Rainbow'' while out on patrol. In early 1916, ''Rainbow'' was still patrolling the west coast of North America, performing reconnaissance on German shipping. On 23 April 1916, she seized the German-owned but American-flagged schooner ''Oregon'' and then followed that up by seizing the Mexican-flagged schooner ''Leonor'' on 2 May.Gimblett, p. 30 The cruiser returned to Esquimalt with the prizes in tow on 30 May. In 1916 and early 1917, ''Rainbow'' was used to transport $140,000,000 in Russian gold
bullion Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from t ...
(valued in 1917 Canadian dollars), between Esquimalt and Vancouver. This money was placed in trust with Canada by the Russian government for protection due to the impending Russian revolution. The Royal Canadian Navy found that the cost of operating ''Rainbow'' was using up too much of the West Coast naval operations budget, and the crew of ''Rainbow'' were sorely needed on the Atlantic coast for the fight against the
U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...
s. ''Rainbow'' was decommissioned and deactivated on 8 May 1917, her crew sent east. On 5 July she was recommissioned in Esquimalt as a
depot ship A depot ship is an auxiliary ship used as a mobile or fixed base for submarines, destroyers, minesweepers, fast attack craft, landing craft, or other small ships with similarly limited space for maintenance equipment and crew dining, berthing an ...
. She served in this capacity until 1 June 1920, when she was sold for scrap to a
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
shipbroker.


Notes


References

* * * * * *


External links


A City Goes to War – This website from the University of Victoria includes an account of HMCS ''Rainbow''.

Loss of SS ''Princess Sophia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rainbow Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1891 ships Apollo-class cruisers of the Royal Canadian Navy Cruisers of the Royal Canadian Navy