The Rainbow. A World War One on Canada's West Coast Timeline

Driftless

Donor
There is going to be a bit of a party in Rupert when Radl is hanged i think. I hope he doesn't have a wife and kids in Canada.

And Radl might have remained either a neutral or a good Canadian immigrant, but for the treatment by his original Captain (near the start of this tale). I'd bet there were a ton of conflicted allegiances that got shifted - one way or the other - based on individual treatment at the start of WW1 and WW2. My dad's WW2 generation had a ton of German heritage soldiers who quickly adopted the nickname of "Dutch" to front their surnames (Beckmann, Schmidt, Herman, Weber, Wagner, etc.....) just to avoid the inevitable harassment.
 

Paternas

Donor
There is going to be a bit of a party in Rupert when Radl is hanged i think. I hope he doesn't have a wife and kids in Canada.
That would make an interesting legal case. If he is an Austro-Hungarian citizen would refusing to help his side of the war not also be treason? The Prince Rupert would have been German territory as soon as it was boarded and seized. As long as he can claim to have been part of the German navy he'll probably get away with it. It would probably help if he is not captured by the Canadians though...
 
That would make an interesting legal case. If he is an Austro-Hungarian citizen would refusing to help his side of the war not also be treason? The Prince Rupert would have been German territory as soon as it was boarded and seized. As long as he can claim to have been part of the German navy he'll probably get away with it. It would probably help if he is not captured by the Canadians though...
To recap some of my prior posts... I suspect if he is captured by Canada or the rest of the commonwealth he is probably going to hang once the war is over..
 
My dad's WW2 generation had a ton of German heritage soldiers who quickly adopted the nickname of "Dutch" to front their surnames (Beckmann, Schmidt, Herman, Weber, Wagner, etc.....) just to avoid the inevitable harassment.

Funny, this.
I grew up believing I was Dutch, as that is what I was told by my parents and grandparents. Not so, my heritage is German, even though my ancestors left Germany in the early 1800's. My grandfather was born in 1900, my father in 1928, so you can understand why we were "Dutch".
 
Funny, this.
I grew up believing I was Dutch, as that is what I was told by my parents and grandparents. Not so, my heritage is German, even though my ancestors left Germany in the early 1800's. My grandfather was born in 1900, my father in 1928, so you can understand why we were "Dutch".

Some of that particularly with those that arrived in the 1800s is a corruption of "Deutch". Hence, Pennsylvania Dutch, and the like.
 
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Galiano is small, but could easily be converted to a raider, and have modifications done to conceal her identity. On the down side, she is so small prisoners will be problematic, she would need a tender far larger than her just to hold prisoners.
 
Galiano is small, but could easily be converted to a raider, and have modifications done to conceal her identity. On the down side, she is so small prisoners will be problematic, she would need a tender far larger than her just to hold prisoners.

And German manpower in the area is very very limited. There already stretched as is. It might be a good idea to abandon Prince Rupert and replace it with a suitable raider. But adding too much to the force is dangerous.
 

Driftless

Donor
And German manpower in the area is very very limited. There already stretched as is. It might be a good idea to abandon Prince Rupert and replace it with a suitable raider. But adding too much to the force is dangerous.

The Germans have some tough choices to make. They just stocked up on coal in Anyox, so the Nurnberg is good there but wasn't the Prince Rupert carrying extra? Also, the Prince Rupert was a useful consort for a commerce raider - well set up for prisoners. Von Schönberg doesn't know the extent of damage to Prince Rupert yet, so he may have already scuttled the most useful replacements, but that's secondary to the raid. The farther they go towards the town, who knows what they'll find? And where is the ship carrying the Connaught Rifles in all this chaos? IF that ship were engaged or captured, that also plays a role in what choices Von Schönberg has to make.

After this raid is complete and if the Nurnberg gets back to the open sea, Von Schönberg has to assume God-and-everyone will know exactly where they are and the pursuit will be both more focused and frantic. His success has probably used up useful targets off BC after this, but what does he do and where does he go?
 
And German manpower in the area is very very limited. There already stretched as is. It might be a good idea to abandon Prince Rupert and replace it with a suitable raider. But adding too much to the force is dangerous.


I wonder what her range is. If they could get her south of the US, such a small vessel could raise hell along the coast.

EDIT: Now that I think of it, heading North would also be useful. Petropavlovsk has little to defend it, a quick raid along the Russian coast, then head down towards Canada again while Nurnberg heads south. Oh she'll be run down eventually, but man, the furor to be raised!
 
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Dave Shoup

Banned
I wonder what her range is. If they could get her south of the US, such a small vessel could raise hell along the coast. EDIT: Now that I think of it, heading North would also be useful. Petropavlovsk has little to defend it, a quick raid along the Russian coast, then head down towards Canada again while Nurnberg heads south. Oh she'll be run down eventually, but man, the furor to be raised!

Didn't find a specific range, but some fascinating detail; YYJ probably already has these...

http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/HMCS_GALIANO.htm

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcon...le.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1582&context=cmh

GAL0001.jpg


Useful vessel, but considering her historical loss, taking her for use as a raider is doubtful. She was pretty small, actually, with a smaller displacement than (for example) a WW II-era Bangor class coastal minesweeper.
 
Didn't find a specific range, but some fascinating detail; YYJ probably already has these...

http://www.forposterityssake.ca/Navy/HMCS_GALIANO.htm

https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcon...le.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1582&context=cmh

GAL0001.jpg


Useful vessel, but considering her historical loss, taking her for use as a raider is doubtful. She was pretty small, actually, with a smaller displacement than (for example) a WW II-era Bangor class coastal minesweeper.

The update mentions she was armed. What was she armed with?
 
The update mentions she was armed. What was she armed with?
Esquimalt in the period OTL had a surfeit of 6 pounder guns. Every museum around town still seems to have one or more today. The Rainbow landed 8 in October 1911 when she upgraded her tertiary armament to 4 x 12 pounders. 2 x 6 pounder guns were originally installed at the Duntze Head anti-torpedo boat battery, but were removed to be replaced by 12 pounder guns, and presumably stored somewhere.

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_6pounder_m1.php
 

Dave Shoup

Banned
Wonder how much ammo she would have carried. Might be worth keeping even if they sink the rest of the boat.

This early in the war, probably not much. For her peacetime fisheries patrol duties, if she ever needed to fire a shot, it would probably be a single round across the bow to get a fishing craft to hove to for inspection.
 
Nice chapter. Not quite the bloodthirsty hun... well done.

"Car" and "medical team" read anachronistically. In the 'teens - I think - the phrasing would be "automobiles" or "motor trucks" rather than "cars" and "rescue party" rather than "medical team."

Nothing I can point to exactly, it just reads a little too modern to me.

And it's borderline, but I think Radl might have called Galiano a "fisheries vessel" or "patrol ship" or something similar. CGS was "Canadian Government Ship" I believe; the Canadian Coast Guard as an agency was not formed until after WW II.
Thank you, I do want the story to sound right. Edits made.
 
Fortune favours the bold
Aug 17, 1950 hours. SMS Prince Rupert, Prince Rupert Harbour.

“Land!” called a lookout.

Von Spee looked out from the bridge windows and saw a wharf with a train locomotive and line of freight cars dead ahead.

“Full astern!” Von Spee ordered. The Prince Rupert. already moving at dead slow, came to a stop in short order. They were still looking at a rail yard, with a shrub and stump covered embankment behind disappearing into the fog.

“Well, I know where we are now,” said Radl. “The Government wharf is to port. The depth is good here.”

“Helm, Bring us around to port. Ahead slow.” Then to Radl, he asked, “What kind of garrison does the city have?”

“As far as I know, half a dozen polizei. And those six militia officers we put ashore… yesterday morning. I am not done being angry with those men yet. I suppose some troops could have arrived by train, but the way those officers were talking on the trip, they were not due for about a week.

The end of a wharf supported by tall pilings appeared out of the fog, situated parallel to the shore.

“This is our wharf,” said Radl proudly, “although, I expect my time with my current employer is finished. The wharf is also shared by other competing steamship lines. Look there!”

The stern of a steamship moored alongside the wharf emerged from the fog. She was smaller than the Prince Rupert, with a single funnel and ample derricks for loading cargo. Her stern read Princess Ena, Victoria.

“That is a Canadian Pacific Railway freighter. 1500 tons. 10 knots. We might want to sink her, but we don’t want to take her,” said Radl. The Prince Rupert continued along slowly parallel to the wharf. After they passed the Princess Ena, another stern loomed out of the fog. This one read Princess Charlotte, Victoria.

“Aha!” exclaimed Radl. “That is more like it! I never could overtake her! That is a true 20 knot ship, maybe better. There might be two ships on the West Coast of Canada faster than her, on a good day. Pride of the CPR. Look! She even has steam up!” Thin clouds of white steam issued from the ship’s three funnels.

“Well then, fortune favours the bold,” said Von Spee. “All hands, prepare for boarding action!” A flurry of activity happened on the Prince Rupert’s decks. “Helm, bring us alongside!” Von Spee checked the action on his sidearm.

“Fortune favours the prepared mind,” said Radl. “I have travelled on that ship.”

“Please, if you will Mr. Radl, handle the Prince Rupert while I go over. You are still a non-combatant.

“Ahh, one last time. You have been a good ship.”

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/SS_Prince_Rupert.jpg
 
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