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

Driftless

Donor
^^^^ I could imagine, even with very limited preparation time and very limited resources in-theater, that there would still be tremendous "hue and cry" for action, probably resounding back even to the Admiralty in London. I'm thinking of the comparison to the panic and often ludicrous demands made upon the US Navy at the start of the Span-Am War. The powers-that-were could probably keep some kind of censorship over the extent of damage to the more isolated Anyox, but it would be more difficult to keep the lid on a bold German attack on Prince Rupert. Even some of the Anyox locals will need to re-locate in the short run (in search of work...) and the tales will grow with each retelling. (Two whacking great Hun battleships sailed into our harbor skippered by the Kaiser hisself and they blew up the smelter!! You shoulda seen it!).

I'd guess the combination of utter surprise, feeling of impotence, and anger will boil up and the limitation of realistic options will be secondary in the public mind to the desire to "Do Something!"

*edit* The cynic in me could also see those with a financial stake and political connections would be the loudest voices crying for protection (more so for the protection of their personal interests over that of Canada)
 
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I agree. Demand as you will though, there are no resources. So, a few high-profile demonstrations will be made for the press, to keep them quiet
 
"A two thousand pound education dropped by a ten-rupee jezail"

“Arithmetic on the Frontier” By Rudyard Kipling

American reporter and author Philip Caputo visited Afghanistan in the 1980s, and went "in country" with a mujahideen war party. They were moving along the side of a canyon, concealed by overhanging rock, when a Soviet helicopter gunship flew down the canyon. Caputo noticed an Afghan tracking the gunship with his rifle, and wondered if he would fire. Then he noticed the markings on the rifle:
BRITISH-MARTINI-HENRY-SERVICE-RIFLE.jpg


The Afghan wasn't foolish enough to think he could shoot down an Mi-24 with a Martini-Henry - but he was ready to try if he had to.
 
The very same.
"...almost everyone who knew him was convinced he was in some way insane.[46]"

A great ATL OP would be "What if Sam Hughes was not insane?"

He would make an excellent character in a story, he provides so much material. But it would be hard to make him more extreme in fiction than he was in reality. For our purposes Hughes only plays a tangential role, and the sailors have no use for shovels.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacAdam_Shield_Shovel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Hughes

Halfway through reading the Wiki page and I have to agree. The bastard actually demanded two fucking Victoria Crosses?
 
Juliet Flag
Aug 17, 1845 SMS Nürnberg and Prince Rupert, Prince Rupert Harbour

Lieutenant Radl piloted SMS Prince Rupert into the fog blanketed harbour, leading the way ahead slow, with Nürnberg following closely behind. Both ships towed a pair of boats in tandem carrying boarding parties, so as to save the time to lower the boats. Radl knew the harbour well. The city of Prince Rupert was on Kaien Island, forming the south edge of the harbour. To the north were the mountains of the Tsimshian Peninsula. In between was Prince Rupert harbour, five nautical miles long and half a mile wide, with a depth at no point shallower than of 20 fathoms. Spacious enough to host the entire High Seas Fleet. Of course all they could see now was fog. Both ships flew the German War Ensign high, although at slow speed, and with no wind the flags hung loosely against the masts.

Lieutenant Von Spee stood on the Prince Rupert’s bridge wing with binoculars. If Captain Von Schönberg was right, the days Nürnberg had sat off Dixon Entrance with no prizes had been because the Canadians had been holding all their shipping in port. That would mean all those ships would be kettled up here, conveniently, for them now. “Sie haben sich in den Arsch gebissen,” said Von Spee quietly to himself. The sounds of the city came through the fog. Horses neighing, automobile engines and horns, boat engines, someone practicing the violin. Nothing to make him think an alarm had been sounded. Visibility was still around 100 meters, so they would not notice a ship in the harbour until until they were right on top of it.

A shape loomed out of the fog ahead. “And here is one now, said Von Spee. As they approached, the ship resolved into a schooner steamer, resting at anchor, with three masts and one funnel, of about 3500 tons. Her stern read SS Cedar Branch, Sunderland. She had no wireless antenna.

“That ship may be carrying explosives,” said Radl. “The anchorage farthest from the city is usually reserved for such cargoes. Or the harbour may just be full. Oh, there, she is flying a Juliet flag. Dangerous Cargo.” The Prince Rupert passed her by. Nürnberg following closely behind, flashed STAND BY TO BE BOARDED OR YOU WILL BE FIRED UPON. PREPARE TO ABANDON SHIP. One of the boats Nürnberg was towing cast off, and rowed over alongside the Cedar Branch. The boarding party stormed onto the ship, covered by Nürnberg’s guns. The crew were rounded up, and allowed to lower their boats and flee. Once the crew had disappeared in the fog, the boarding party searched the ship. SS Cedar Branch was carrying Dynamite and blasting powder, galvanized steel pipe, and pig iron, for Australia. She was sunk by opening her sea cocks and smashing her intake pipes with sledge hammers. As the boarding party rowed away, the ship could be seen to be settling, but very slowly.

Nürnberg’s boarding party rowed back and tied onto the stern of the first yawl, and the cruiser proceeded at dead slow. A shape emerged from the fog, that proved to be the Prince Rupert standing close by a 4 masted barque of about 2000 tons, also with no wireless antenna. Her stern read Falls of Garry, Glasgow, loaded with wheat for Japan. She was already putting her boats in the water.

Nürnberg passed her by, and leapfrogged ahead to the next anchorage. There lay the SS Bengrove, Liverpool, a steamer of about 4000 tons. She did have a wireless, and when signaled by Nürnberg, within a minute she began transmitting her RRRR Surface Raider Warning. The Bengrove’s wireless operator only got one morse character off – dot dash dot – before his counterpart on the Nürnberg, who had been listening closely to the airwaves, commenced jamming. He reported this to Nürnberg’s bridge immediately.

“So, the freighter did not get his warning away,” said Von Schönberg, “but every wireless in port now can hear they are being jammed from very close range. It is a Miracle that we have been stealthy thus far, but we have just showed out hand,”

“Illuminate the freighter!” Von Schönberg considered that lighting up the Bengrove from 75 meters away with four powerful searchlights to be sufficiently intimidating, less lethal and, quieter than gunfire. The captain of the Bengrove agreed, and came out on the bridge wing waving his arms in surrender, casting a harsh shadow on the bulkhead behind, and ordered his men to the boats. The German boarding party shooed the British crew off, and Nürnberg extinguished her searchlights. A muffled sound of explosions came from astern, presumably the Prince Rupert scuttling the Falls of Garry. Von Schönberg was eager to retrieve his boat and move on, when he received the report from the boarding party.

CARGO 3500 TONS COAL FOR PETROPLAVOSK

“It seems to be either famine or feast in these waters,” he said “Signals, send message:”

QUESTION WHAT IS SHIPS BEST SPEED

There was a pause while the answer was determined.

THIRTEEN KNOTS came back the answer.

FORM PRIZE CREW STOP BRING UP STEAM

“We can always scuttle if she slows us down,” said Von Schönberg.

The Prince Rupert passed this scene by to starboard, and disappeared back into the fog further up the harbour. Radl had taken now to sounding the fog horn intermittently to echolocate his position.

Von Schönberg sent another ten sailors over to bolster the prize crew on Bengrove, and left the one yawl to replace the collier’s missing boats. Then Nürnberg moved on.

Nürnberg almost immediately encountered the Prince Rupert again. She was seizing the SS Tokomaru, Southampton, loaded with frozen Alberta beef bound for England via the Panama Canal, and fully twice the Prince Rupert’s size at over 6000 tons. Any doubt the captain of the Tokomaru had about resisting was set to rest as Nürnberg cruised slowly by, and his crew began to swing out their boats.

Von Schönberg almost missed the next vessel. A sharp lookout spotted her on the starboard quarter as Nürnberg was almost past, and she had to circle around. This was the AD Bordes, Dunkirk, a steel hulled three masted sailing ship of 1700 tons. She was laden with coal for Papeete, but when the boarding party climbed aboard, they found that her French captain had already commenced scuttling her himself, and the German sailors got back into their boat and returned to Nürnberg.

The Prince Rupert had not passed Nürnberg yet, so Von Schönberg proceeded to the next vessel they found, which turned out the be the SS Hexham, Newcastle NSW, a passenger cargo steamer of 2000 tons. The Australian ship was in ballast, empty, waiting for a cargo. She launched her boats shortly after she was challenged. The boarding party rigged her to scuttle. The Prince Rupert passed by through the fog. Explosions were heard behind as Tokomaru scuttled. It was said that for almost a decade afterward, the crab harvest around Prince Rupert Harbour was especially bountiful, fed by the Tokomaru’s 4000 tons of prime Alberta beef.
 
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Well its official Nurnberg will go in German naval history as a legend, heck in a few weeks she's done more damage than the Emden will do over the course of months
 

Driftless

Donor
The impact of this version of the Nurnberg and maybe the Leipzig too(?), along with the cruise of the Emden, likely would stir up the "Jeune Ecole" vs big gun debate in naval and treasury circles across the globe. Those ships appear to be having both a real and percieved impact on trade well above their relative status as warships. The proverbial "bang for the buck/pound/mark/franc/yen/etc"
 
The impact of this version of the Nurnberg and maybe the Leipzig too(?), along with the cruise of the Emden, likely would stir up the "Jeune Ecole" vs big gun debate in naval and treasury circles across the globe. Those ships appear to be having both a real and percieved impact on trade well above their relative status as warships. The proverbial "bang for the buck/pound/mark/franc/yen/etc"

I don't particularly think so, the only reason these relatively weak German cruisers are terrorizing the west coast of Canada is due to the systematic neglect of their own naval force due to years of political neck gouging. It's going to have relatively minimal effects on worldwide or even Commonwealth doctrine besides "have a navy".
 

Driftless

Donor
I don't particularly think so, the only reason these relatively weak German cruisers are terrorizing the west coast of Canada is due to the systematic neglect of their own naval force due to years of political neck gouging. It's going to have relatively minimal effects on worldwide or even Commonwealth doctrine besides "have a navy".

I disagree. I'd bet the Treasury argument would carry big weight, especially for countries with big power pretentions with smaller navies and smaller naval budgets. These ships are showing (at least to the Treasury and some of the other Leadership) that a selection of smaller/cheaper ships can drain an opponents resources - at least for a time. Their larger strategic value appears to greatly exceed their initial and operating cost. Of course, once the raiders are finally hunted down, the math changes. Until then, and probably long after, the arguments between Admirals and politicos with control of the budget would go on, likely at high decibels.

The technology part of the argument shifted to which were more useful or impactful raiders - surface warships, auxiliary cruisers, or submarines. U-boats certainly sank far more tonnage of ships, but the Tirpitz tied up outsized chunks of the RN and RAF resources for years, without fighting a real battle.

*edit* What might the Japanese do in the years after WW1, with this example fresh in mind, to go along with their recently acquired German islands across the South Pacific. Historically, they viewed Decisive Battle between fleets as the purpose of their fleet. Might they hedge their bets a bit?
 
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marathag

Banned
It's going to have relatively minimal effects on worldwide or even Commonwealth doctrine besides "have a navy".
It's pure Mahan at work, no, not big surface units slugging it out, but controlling the trade routes.

And from a Sci-Fi work 70 years in the Future, 'He who can destroy a thing, controls that thing'

That's what was at the heart of _The Influence of Sea Power upon History_

Not Battleships.
armed ships keeping Raiders away from Trade
 
I disagree. I'd bet the Treasury argument would carry big weight, especially for countries with big power pretentions with smaller navies and smaller naval budgets. These ships are showing (at least to the Treasury and some of the other Leadership) that a selection of smaller/cheaper ships can drain an opponents resources - at least for a time. Their larger strategic value appears to greatly exceed their initial and operating cost. Of course, once the raiders are finally hunted down, the math changes. Until then, and probably long after, the arguments between Admirals and politicos with control of the budget would go on, likely at high decibels.

The technology part of the argument shifted to which were more useful or impactful raiders - surface warships, auxiliary cruisers, or submarines. U-boats certainly sank far more tonnage of ships, but the Tirpitz tied up outsized chunks of the RN and RAF resources for years, without fighting a real battle.

*edit* What might the Japanese do in the years after WW1, with this example fresh in mind, to go along with their recently acquired German islands across the South Pacific. Historically, they viewed Decisive Battle between fleets as the purpose of their fleet. Might they hedge their bets a bit?

Yeah I don't agree whatsoever. These nations you speak about with "big power pretensions" and "smaller navies with smaller budgets" don't really exist. These small German cruisers have only kept their act up for this long due to the exact situation they are in, "fighting" a nation with effectively no armed naval force in the area alongside a whole lot of luck. Even as we speak, the raiding of these German ships is rapidly coming to a close with the Japanese and British closing the noose as they move to the west coast. Canada's originally proposed six Acorn-class destroyers and four Weymouth-class cruisers would have rather decisively put an end to any tactics such as what we're seeing here. Small cruisers or destroyers aren't particularly expensive even in small numbers which generally deal with the problem itself. Even an ass backwards nation such as some of the Nordic navies would be able to effectively downplay the threat we see here.

Do not confuse an extremely ideal situation with the validation of some kind of doctrine sweeping change.

This literally changes nothing for Japan, who is already using elements of Jeune Ecole in their decisive battle doctrine. Their whole thing was "using a few to defeat many" and a large part of that relied on asymmetric attacks against the enemy battle line using Jeune Ecole tactics (submarines, land-based and carrier air, torpedo boat and cruiser attack at night, etc.)
 
I don't particularly think so, the only reason these relatively weak German cruisers are terrorizing the west coast of Canada is due to the systematic neglect of their own naval force due to years of political neck gouging. It's going to have relatively minimal effects on worldwide or even Commonwealth doctrine besides "have a navy".
I basically agree...

That being said, going forwards perhaps a few truly critical issolated coastal facilities get a few coastal guns, pill boxes etc and maybe some plans are drawn up to form army reserve units / Milita units from the workers to back them up.

Perhaps as wireless technology matures a few back up radio sets are cached in hidden locations, maybe a bit of thought is put into incorporating provisions for demolition charges into new infrastructure such as coal and fuel storage facilities to prevent raiders from using them etc.
 
Well its official Nurnberg will go in German naval history as a legend, heck in a few weeks she's done more damage than the Emden will do over the course of months
In Gross Registered Tons of prizes taken, at the end of the last chapter, Nürnberg's score is 51,450 tons, while Emden's final tally was 70,825 tons not counting 2 warships. This tonnage of shipping sunk does not take into account Emden shelling the Madras oil tanks, or Nürnberg destroying Anyox smelter. As of 1830 hours, Aug 17, 1914 ITTL Nürnberg is still in action in Prince Rupert harbour.

Future history nerds ITTL may ask, " Who was better, Emden or Nürberg?"

Talking points might be:

"The Indian Ocean was more important to Britain than British Columbia."

"Yeah, but the Nürnberg is counting 7 barges sunk. That shouldn't be part of her GRT total score."
 
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In Gross Registered Tons of prizes taken, at the end of the last chapter, Nürnberg's score is 51,450 tons, while Emden's final tally was 70,825 tons not counting 2 warships. This tonnage of shipping sunk does not take into account Emden shelling the Madras oil tanks, or Nürnberg destroying Anyox smelter. As of 1830 hours, Aug 17, 1914 ITTL Nürnberg is still in action in Prince Rupert harbour.

Future history nerds ITTL may ask, " Who was better, Emden or Nürberg?"

Talking points might be:

"The Indian Ocean was more important to Britain than British Columbia."

"Yeah, but the Nürnberg is counting 7 barges sunk. That shouldn't be part of her GRT total score."

Depends in Nurnberg is unceremoniously scuttled in some random Canadian hamlet or smashed by a coastal battery crewed by 16 year olds and pensioners lmao.
 
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