HMCS Rainbow
Encyclopedia
HMCS Rainbow, formerly HMS Rainbow, was an protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
built for Britain's Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
by Palmers
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as Palmers, was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, in Northeast England and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne....
at Hebburn-On-Tyne
Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She was launched on 25 March 1891 as HMS Rainbow and entered service in 1893.
Royal Navy
She would serve in the China StationChina Station
The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
from 1895 to 1898 and in Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
from 1898 to 1899. Rainbow had a an operating cost that was deemed excessive deemed excessive and, between 1900 and 1909, saw very little service. Most of her operations at this time were closer to England. During this time, she also saw a severe reduction in fleet support, resulting in only minor modernization. Her crew rotation at this time was used as a training cycle. Eventually, she was not used at sea from 1907 to 1909 at all. In early 1909, the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
ordered her decommissioned and placed on the inactive list.
Royal Canadian Navy
HMS Rainbow was presented to CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1910, and was recommissioned HMCS
Her Majesty's Canadian Ship
The designation Her Majesty's Canadian Ship , is applied as a prefix to any Canadian Forces warship. In the reign of a king, the designation changes to His Majesty's Canadian Ship; the French version of the title remains unchanged in this instance...
Rainbow. In 1910, two old cruisers, HMCS Niobe and HMCS Rainbow (1891) were purchased from the Admiralty to be used as training ships at Royal Naval College of Canada
Royal Naval College of Canada
The Royal Naval College of Canada was a naval college set up in Canada by the Royal Navy; it existed from 1911 to 1922. The school educated about 150 students until it closed due to declining numbers and cuts from Ottawa. The aim of the college was to instruct recruits a course of study that...
in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Classes at the Royal Naval College of Canada
Royal Naval College of Canada
The Royal Naval College of Canada was a naval college set up in Canada by the Royal Navy; it existed from 1911 to 1922. The school educated about 150 students until it closed due to declining numbers and cuts from Ottawa. The aim of the college was to instruct recruits a course of study that...
were held on HMCS Niobe, a ship used to train the cadets. Damaged in the 1917 Halifax Explosion
Halifax Explosion
The Halifax Explosion occurred on Thursday, December 6, 1917, when the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, was devastated by the huge detonation of the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship, fully loaded with wartime explosives, which accidentally collided with the Norwegian SS Imo in "The Narrows"...
, she was scrapped in the 1920s. HMCS Niobe and Rainbow were the two first ships of the Royal Canadian Navy
Royal Canadian Navy
The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
that were purchased from the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. She entered Canadian service on 4 May 1910. Her initial duties included training, ceremonial visits and fishery patrols. Rainbow served Canada's Pacific Coast from Esquimalt, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
to assist with an international incident that was unfolding. The Komagata Maru
Komagata Maru
The Komagata Maru incident involved a Japanese steamship, the Komagata Maru, that sailed from Hong Kong to Shanghai, China; Yokohama, Japan; and then to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, India. The 356 of passengers were not allowed to land in...
, a ship filled with Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
immigrants from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, challenged Canada's immigration law designed to prevent immigration from South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. The ship's passengers were not permitted to disembark even though they were British subjects. Rainbow was sent to force the ship to return to India. Twenty of the passengers were killed upon returning to Budge Budge, India, after they resisted an attempt to forcibly return them to Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
.
When World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
broke out, Rainbow was already underway on a mission to find and engage ships of the Imperial German Navy in the Pacific Ocean, in particular SMS Leipzig
SMS Leipzig
SMS Leipzig was a Bremen class light cruiser, of the German Imperial Navy. It was named after the German city of Leipzig.The ship was stationed off the west coast of Mexico at the outbreak of war in 1914...
and SMS Nurnberg
SMS Nürnberg (1906)
SMS Nürnberg, named after the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, was a Königsberg class light cruiser of 3,450 tons laid down in 1905 and launched in 1907. Nürnberg's was similar in both size and appearance to the famous , differing mainly in its uneven funnel spacing. She was armed with ten guns, eight...
. She never met either of these ships, although she missed Leipzig by only a day at San Francisco. This was to be Rainbow's first and only taste of peril.
In 1916 and early 1917, Rainbow was used to transport $140,000,000 in Russian gold bullion (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-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s. Rainbow was decommissioned and de-activated on 8 May 1917, and her crew sent east. One month later, she was recommissioned in Esquimalt as a depot ship. She served in this capacity until 1920, when she was sold for scrap.
Commanding officers
- CDRCommanderCommander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
J.D.D. Stewart (RNRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
) 4 August 1910 - 23 June 1911 - CDR Walter HoseWalter HoseWalter Hose was a Canadian Admiral. He was the founder of the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve.Hose was born on a ship in the Indian Ocean and joined the Royal Navy when he was 14. Hose transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1912, serving in a variety of commands during World War I...
(RN then RCNRoyal Canadian NavyThe history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
) 24 June 1911 - 30 April 1917 - CDR H.E. Holme (RCN 1 May 1917 - 8 May 1917
- LCDRLieutenant CommanderLieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
J.H. Knight (RCN) 1 July 1917 - 21 August 1917 - CDR J.T. Shenton (RCN) 22 August 1917 - 12 May 1918
- LTLieutenantA lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Y. Birley (RCN) 13 May 1918 - 14 October 1919 - CAPT E.H. Martin, CMGOrder of St Michael and St GeorgeThe Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
, (RCN) 15 October 1919 - 1 June 1920