HMCS Rainbow (1891)

HMCS Rainbow (1891) was an Apollo-class cruiser that served as one of the first two warships of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). Originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS Rainbow, the ship was transferred to Canada in 1910 and played a pivotal role in establishing a naval presence on the Pacific Coast. Her career spanned the formative years of the RCN, including patrol duties during the First World War, before she was decommissioned and sold for scrap.

Construction and acquisition

The vessel was constructed by Laird Brothers at their Birkenhead shipyard in England, with her keel laid in 1890 and launch on 25 March 1891. She entered service with the Royal Navy and served primarily on overseas stations, including the China Station and the Australia Station. Following the Naval Service Act of 1910, which established the Royal Canadian Navy, the British Admiralty offered the cruiser to the Dominion of Canada as part of the nascent fleet. The Canadian government formally acquired the ship on 4 August 1910, commissioning her at Portsmouth under the command of Commander James Douglas Stewart.

Service history

After a lengthy voyage from England, HMCS Rainbow arrived at her new home port of Esquimalt Harbour in British Columbia on 7 November 1910, becoming the RCN's sole warship on the Pacific Ocean. Her early duties involved training Royal Naval College of Canada cadets, showing the flag, and conducting fishery patrols. At the outbreak of the First World War, she was immediately tasked with intercepting German merchant vessels and protecting allied shipping from the threat of the German East Asia Squadron, notably searching for the light cruiser SMS Leipzig. In September 1914, she escorted the Japanese battlecruiser ''Asama'' and later met the Canadian Expeditionary Force troop convoy from Vancouver to open ocean. For the remainder of the war, her role diminished due to age and the arrival of more modern Allied warships, and she served primarily as a depot and training ship at Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard.

Fate and legacy

Decommissioned from active service on 8 May 1920, the obsolete cruiser was sold later that year to the Burdett-Coutts Salvage Company and broken up at Vancouver. Her legacy is significant as a symbol of Canada's early naval independence and the foundation of its Pacific Fleet. The ship's bell is preserved at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia, and her name was later revived for the St. Laurent-class destroyer HMCS ''Rainbow'' during the Cold War. Her service is commemorated at the Canadian War Museum and within the history of CFB Esquimalt.

Design and specifications

As a second-class protected cruiser of the Apollo class, HMCS Rainbow was designed for colonial service and trade protection. Her steel hull measured 314 feet in length with a beam of 43.5 feet, and a draught of 17.5 feet, displacing 3,600 long tons. Propulsion came from two triple-expansion steam engines driving twin screws, fed by five cylindrical boilers, capable of reaching a top speed of 19.75 knots. Her original Royal Navy armament consisted of two 6-inch guns, six 4.7-inch guns, eight 6-pounder guns, a 3-pounder gun, and four 18-inch torpedo tubes. Protection included a 1.5 to 2-inch armored deck and a 3-inch conning tower.

Commanding officers

The ship was commanded by several officers who would later hold significant positions within the Royal Canadian Navy. Her first commanding officer was Commander James Douglas Stewart (1910–1912), who oversaw her transfer and early Pacific service. He was succeeded by Commander Walter Hose (1912–1914), a future Chief of the Naval Staff and a key architect of the RCN's interwar expansion. During the First World War, command passed to Lieutenant Commander John Moreau Grant (1914–1917) and finally to Lieutenant Commander Harold Arthur Richardson (1917–1920), who supervised her final decommissioning.

Category:Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy Category:Apollo-class cruisers Category:1891 ships