Hey everybody, I haven't posted here very much however, I've found some quite interesting info to fuel a passion of mine, RCN wank along with hopefully a good discussion!
I had originally came here when I found
these two threads talking about
HMCS Rainbow vs
SMS Leipzig and while they both correctly come to the conclusion that Rainbow herself is very likely going to be lost however, I recently came across a book which I think definitely shows how hopelessly outmatched Rainbow actually was.
The book is question is "The Sea Is At Our Gates; The History of the Canadian Navy" by Commander Tony German which by the way, I cannot recommend more for basically anything about the origins and general facts about the RCN throughout it's history. Anyway, let's get into the information I found.
Self explanatory title.
Rainbow was at sea on August 3rd when she was ordered out to escort the defenseless Royal Navy sloops
Shearwater and
Algerie back to Canada, who were under threat from
SMS Lepizig and
SMS Nurnberg.
Rainbow, under Commander Hose of the RCN, was at sea on 3 August. He had done his best to whip his ship into shape, yet still she had less than half her proper compliment and over a third of those were local volunteer reservists, keen but with no seagoing experience. Her wireless set had a nightmarish range of only 200 miles. Her ammunition outfit, quite incredibly, included only ancient gun-powder filled shells. Modern high-explosive (HE) shells were stored at an inland magazine but the railway company was not organized to handle big shipments of explosives.
So to recap,
Rainbow has nothing resembling a proper crew, terrible communication equipment and nigh useless shells in which to try and fight back. You think it's bad now? Oh ho it gets worse.
Hose had just received the signal saying his HE shells had arrived in Vancouver when he got another from NSHQ:
"Nurnberg and Leipzig reported August 4th off Magdalena Bay [Mexico] steering North. Do your utmost to protect Algerie and Shearwater steering north from San Diego. Remember Nelson and the British Navy, All Canada is watching."
SMS Leipzig, unknown date and location.
Not exactly the most inspiring of words, more of an epitaph than encouragement. This shows quite well how aware the NSHQ was of
Rainbows shortcomings.
Hose turned South immediately at his best 15 knots, pondering the tactics for his two old 6-inch guns and four 12-pounders versus two fast 23 knot cruisers. Each of them had full compliments, modern gunnery control, ten 4.1-inch guns with longer range than his and they had modern HE shells. The scene could be a quick and ugly one for all of Canada to watch.
Unlike the other two above mentioned posts, we now know the top speed of
Rainbow, which is a pedestrian 15 knots.
Hose went into San Francisco seeking news, but there had been no reports of Shearwater or Algerie and they had no radios. The enemy cruisers, though, had been seen off Sand Diego heading North. One day's steaming at 12 knots! Hose steamed out, patrolled near the Farallones Islands west of the Golden Gate, right across the enemy's path, plotting time, speed and distance on his charts, waiting for the two sloops - or the German squadron.
On 10 August, with his coal running low and when he reckoned the sloops must be safely to the North, Hose headed up the coast. The next day, unknown to Hose, Leipzig was sighted off the Farallones.
So this would likely be the divergence point for this AH,
Rainbow takes on enough coal to encounter Leipzig off the Farallones on August 11th.
Rough battle area
To skip some irrelevant parts, the two sloops make it safely to British Columbia and
Rainbow receives more coal and her HE shells, although hilariously without the fuzes to function.
Back in Esquimalt it had been quite clear Rainbow was on borrowed time. Those who saw her leave seriously doubted she would ever return.
Now the Germans were reported off San Francisco taking British prizes and on the 17th, Leipzig steamed in for fuel. Commander Hose got news of Leipzig the next day, and Rainbow took on her fuzes the next day. Hose signaled for permission to go south and fight and sailed immediately. He was well on his way down the coast when the Admiralty signal "engage or drive off Leipzig from trade route off San Francisco" however, both Germans cruisers were spotted the next day and Rainbow was pulled back to await reinforcements from Britain and Japan.
Well showcases the either stupidity or pure bravado of Commander Hose quite well. After this, the two cruisers meet with Graf Spee and help defeat the RN squadron at Coronel, which greatly worries the British as they believe Spee may come to the West Coast of Canada.
The Allied squadron in Esquimalt braced for Von Spee to come North. Hose signaled Admiral Kingsmill (RCN Fleet Admiral) that Rainbow "be in company with the squadron engaging the German threat." Such was the unquenchable spirit of the man. Kingsmill turned him down. If the ship were lost, "there would be much criticism on the account of her age in being sent to engage modern vessels." Fear of criticism - such was the Ottawa mind.
Somewhat ironic given their ease in which
Rainbow was previously dispatched. Here comes an end to the info I've found, I appreciate anybody who struggled through all of that however, it truly puts into perspective how outmatched
Rainbow was and how aware the RCN/Canadian government was of this.
If there's any interest in a battle itself, I'd be more than happy to write one as long as a potential AH considering the Canadian government/publics reaction to the very public sinking of
Rainbow directly off San Francisco. Could lead to some potentially interesting developments down the line.
Regardless, I hope you all enjoy and feel free to discuss down below, I welcome any feedback!