Bell Recovery 2014
August 11, 2014
Bell of WWI Cruiser HMCS Rainbow recovered from the bottom of the Pacific.
Craig Leroy for the Vancouver Sun.
This year marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMCS Rainbow at The Battle of the Farallon Islands, Canada's first naval engagement during the First World War. The battle was commemorated today by a coordinated effort over 20 years in the making.
Crew of HMCS Rainbow posing for a photo around the aft 6" gun.
Left as the only warship to protect the Canadian West Coast from the German warships, Rainbow was little more than an outdated ship originally purchased for training but as was common with the neglected Canadian military, servicemen had to make do. Commander Walter Hose, who had transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy with Rainbow just a few years earlier, set his ship to sea with only 122 men under his command. Rainbow would eventually meet the cruiser SMS Leipzig off the Farallon Islands where she valiantly fought to the last however, she eventually foundered and took 109 young men down with her.
Since the original discovery of Rainbow’s wreck in 1995 and its subsequent classification as a National Historic Site of Canada, no major expeditions have been undertaken since a plaque laying in 2004. Working closely with the HMCS Rainbow Association, the Royal Canadian Navy has released photos this morning confirming they have recovered the bell of HMCS Rainbow. Following the ceremonial laying of wreaths by HMCS Cormorant, HMCS St Laurent and USS Russell, the bell will be returned to CFB Esquimalt for restoration. The bell is planned to be housed at the Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum following an exhibition at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Bell of HMCS Rainbow being retrieved from an ROV on the seafloor.
The tragedy of Rainbow is commonly viewed by Canadian historians as the turning point of the Canadian Navy, public support and fierce lobbying had finally given the “ugly duckling” of the Canadian Military it’s legs in an uncertain world. The rallying cry of “Remember the Rainbow!” remains one of the most memorable Canadian quotes of the early 20th century.
Hello everybody, I'd like to welcome you to my new and hopefully much improved timeline regarding the Royal Canadian Navy! This timeline originally was started June of 2019 however, due to miscellaneous issues with myself and another currently ongoing timeline on a similar topic, I decided to put my timeline on hold for the time being. That changes today though, I'm coming back onto the scene in hopefully a big way with a revamped timeline and a lot more relevant resources on the topic. As of right now, the previous timeline present here is going to be decommissioned and redirected to this thread, this solution seems a lot simpler than editing all of the posts on another thread and trying again. I plan to have this timeline follow the idea of a Canadian Navy from the founding of the nation itself to the present day (2020 at the time of writing) with the style of writing currently being a rotation from authoritative narratives to vignettes with potentially reoccurring characters and photo galleries. I currently plan on a minimum of two updates randomly per week until I settle into a structure however, this may increase depending on my overall activity.
That all being said, I'm looking forward to finally being back in the saddle and getting this timeline flowing properly this time! I hope you all enjoy.
Bell of WWI Cruiser HMCS Rainbow recovered from the bottom of the Pacific.
Craig Leroy for the Vancouver Sun.
This year marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMCS Rainbow at The Battle of the Farallon Islands, Canada's first naval engagement during the First World War. The battle was commemorated today by a coordinated effort over 20 years in the making.
Crew of HMCS Rainbow posing for a photo around the aft 6" gun.
Since the original discovery of Rainbow’s wreck in 1995 and its subsequent classification as a National Historic Site of Canada, no major expeditions have been undertaken since a plaque laying in 2004. Working closely with the HMCS Rainbow Association, the Royal Canadian Navy has released photos this morning confirming they have recovered the bell of HMCS Rainbow. Following the ceremonial laying of wreaths by HMCS Cormorant, HMCS St Laurent and USS Russell, the bell will be returned to CFB Esquimalt for restoration. The bell is planned to be housed at the Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum following an exhibition at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.
Bell of HMCS Rainbow being retrieved from an ROV on the seafloor.
The tragedy of Rainbow is commonly viewed by Canadian historians as the turning point of the Canadian Navy, public support and fierce lobbying had finally given the “ugly duckling” of the Canadian Military it’s legs in an uncertain world. The rallying cry of “Remember the Rainbow!” remains one of the most memorable Canadian quotes of the early 20th century.
Hello everybody, I'd like to welcome you to my new and hopefully much improved timeline regarding the Royal Canadian Navy! This timeline originally was started June of 2019 however, due to miscellaneous issues with myself and another currently ongoing timeline on a similar topic, I decided to put my timeline on hold for the time being. That changes today though, I'm coming back onto the scene in hopefully a big way with a revamped timeline and a lot more relevant resources on the topic. As of right now, the previous timeline present here is going to be decommissioned and redirected to this thread, this solution seems a lot simpler than editing all of the posts on another thread and trying again. I plan to have this timeline follow the idea of a Canadian Navy from the founding of the nation itself to the present day (2020 at the time of writing) with the style of writing currently being a rotation from authoritative narratives to vignettes with potentially reoccurring characters and photo galleries. I currently plan on a minimum of two updates randomly per week until I settle into a structure however, this may increase depending on my overall activity.
That all being said, I'm looking forward to finally being back in the saddle and getting this timeline flowing properly this time! I hope you all enjoy.
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