The Rainbow: A World War One on Canada's West Coast Timeline
August 1914. The Empires of Germany and England declare war. The west coast of Canada is defended by a single obsolete cruiser,
HMCS Rainbow. The Royal Navy handed over defence of the Dominion to the Government of Canada in 1905, but successive national governments were unable to settle on a naval policy or procure any modern warships for the four-year-old Royal Canadian Navy. Admiral Graf Maximilian Von Spee’s East Asiatic Squadron, based in the German colony in Tsingtao, China vastly overpowers any available Canadian naval forces. The war starts with the light cruisers
SMS Nürnberg in Honolulu, and
Leipzig off Mazatlan, Mexico. The province of British Columbia is in a panic.
In our timeline, the panic proved to be unwarranted, as the two light cruisers were ordered to the central Pacific to meet with Von Spee’s main force, and headed south to victory at the Battle of Coronel, then defeat at the Falkland Islands. In our timeline the closest the Kaiserliche Marine came to Canada was
Leipzig cruising just north of San Francisco.
But what if the two cruisers were ordered east and north to engage in commerce warfare on the industrially significant and highly exposed west coast of British Columbia, Canada…
Sample:
“Fort McAuley reports the two cruisers are approaching Victoria Harbour from the east,” called up the telephone operator. “They are engaging.”
Three booms in quick succession sounded from the east. Donnelly saw the muzzle flashes above the trees on Saxe Point, and saw the number 3 gun of the fort recoil, and swing backwards then downwards into the loading position in its pit.
After a moment the telephone rating called up again. “Fort McAuley reports the cruisers are out of range, at just over 11,000 yards.”
Donnelly made a scoffing noise.
“Fort McAuley reports that the cruisers are heading south west, in company, at about 15 knots,” called the telephone rating, and gave some positions. “The commander suspects they are deliberately staying out of range of his guns. He expects they will become visible to us in a minute or so.”
“Load solid shot!” ordered Donnelly. The gun crew received the 380 pound shell from the lift, rammed it from the trolley into the firing chamber, opened a zinc canister containing the silk bagged cordite charge and rammed that in behind the shell. The breechblock was closed. The crew moved to their firing positions.
“We had best move inside the Command Post,” said Donnelly, and he hopped down onto the concrete glacis. “Well
I had better. You should take your men into the crew shelter, and stand by in case Number Two gun takes casualties.” The men cleared the top of the fort. Donnelly entered the concrete Fire Command Post from the sheltered door at the rear. Inside the small space were half a dozen men, a telescope, a depression range finder and the telephone exchange. The artillerymen were working with a quiet efficiency. It had been two minutes since Fort McAuley had fired the opening salvo. The 6 inch guns of the fort sounded again.
“There they are!” exclaimed the young private on the telescope, then he composed himself and reported, “Sir, a German cruiser has appeared from behind Saxe Point. Range 13,000 yards. I identify her as
Stettin class.”
“That would be the
Nürnberg,” Donnely said. He strode over to the view slit and gazed out at Saxe Point, just in time for the bow of a second cruiser to thrust out where he could see it. The shells from Fort McAuley had been in the air for 16 seconds, and landed just then, raising a trio of waterspouts several thousand yards short of the Germans. Donnelly took over the telescope, and trained on the leading German ship.
“Yes, that is the
Nürnberg all right,” he said. He panned the telescope over to the second cruiser. “And that second one is
Bremmen class.” A recognition silhouette sheet was pinned to the wall of the post, and the exaggerated ram bow of the second cruiser was a dead giveaway. “
Leipzig.” Suddenly the guns on the cruiser flashed, causing Donnelly to jump. Then he laughed. “Get me a firing solution for the lead cruiser. The soldier on the range finder began calling out numbers, and these were relayed to the gun crew.
“Ready!” came the reply.
“Fire!” ordered Donnelly, and the order was passed on. Donnelly plugged his ears and opened his mouth. The force of the blast pressed on his chest, and raised dust in the small space of the command post. When the sound of the blast died away he ordered, “Load solid shot!” He looked through the telescope at the
Nürnberg to spot the fall of shot. Her guns flashed again, with a 4 gun broadside. As he waited for his shell to land, he heard shells rumble overhead from Fort Rodd Hill, followed by the boom of the fort’s 6 inch guns. At this angle his battery was on the flight path of the western fort’s shells. Now incoming higher velocity German shells made a different note as they passing overhead from the direction of the sea.
“Over!” called the soldier on the rangefinder. His first shell had fallen far outside of his field of view from the telescope, so he had completely missed its landing. “By 3000 yards.”
July 30, 1914. Light Cruiser SMS Nürnberg, Honolulu ALERT MESSAGE THREATENED STATE OF WAR WITH ENGLAND STOP SMS NURNBERG REPORT TO WEST COAST NORTH AMERICA TO CONDUCT COMMERCE WARFARE ALONG WITH LEIPZIG IN CASE OF WAR STOP Kapitaen zur See Karl Von Schönberg considered the decoded message. Not...
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