HMCS Rainbow


 HMCS RAINBOW near Vancouver, British Columbia, 1912.



HMCS Rainbow enters Esquimalt Harbour on November 7, 1910. One of two old British cruisers obtained by the government in 1910 for the new Canadian navy, Rainbow was assigned to the west coast, where it spent most of the war as a training ship.



HMCS Rainbow holds a singular place in Canadian naval history as the first commissioned ship of the newly created Royal Canadian Navy, entering service on 4 August 1910. Initially built for the Royal Navy in 1891 as an Apollo‑class protected cruiser, she had already served for years abroad—particularly in Asian waters—before being transferred to Canada. After arriving at Esquimalt later that same year, HMCS Rainbow became the main vessel in Canada’s fledgling Pacific Station. She performed training cruises, ceremonial duties, and fishery patrols. Even though she was past her prime and of very modest capability, she symbolized Canada’s early naval ambitions and provided the West Coast with its only significant warship.

With the outbreak of the First World War, Rainbow suddenly found herself thrust into a strategic role far beyond what her designers had imagined. She was the sole major Canadian or British warship on the entire western seaboard of North America, responsible for countering potential German raiders until the threat diminished after the Battle of the Falkland Islands in late 1914. In the latter part of the war, the Rainbow undertook unusual but vital tasks, including transporting $140 million in Russian bullion between Vancouver and Esquimalt in 1916–17. By 1917, her crew was required elsewhere for operational reasons, and the aging cruiser was ultimately paid off. Later, she served briefly as a depot ship before finally being sold for scrap in 1920. Even though HMCS Rainbow was never a frontline combat vessel, her service helped anchor Canada’s early naval identity and safeguarded the Pacific coast during a moment of global uncertainty.

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#Royal Canadian Navy; HMCS Rainbow: World War I; Canada's Military History; British Columbia; Sailors; 

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