Aug 19, 0115, HMCS Rainbow,
Johnstone Strait, off Sayward.
Rainbow plodded on, at her reduced speed. Lookouts strained their eyes into the darkness. The sky remained clear and full of stars, but the moon was a sliver of waning crescent with just two days until New, and provided no light. Shooting stars of the Perseid shower drew bright lines overhead every few minutes. The air was pleasant, even in the middle of the night.
Rainbow’s bow wave and wake were lit by the green glow of bioluminescence from disturbed tiny sea creatures. The lookouts searched for this tell-tale that would give away the approach of a blacked out ship.
The cruiser had turned to port after rounding Chatham Point Light, and was now steaming due west. The channel was uniformly one nautical mile wide, all unbroken forest on dark hillsides, with frequent channels diverging to starboard. “Just ripe for an ambush,” said the Officer of the Watch, turning his binoculars back up Chancellor Channel, astern and to starboard. “Lookouts keep watch on all quarters!” Shortly, to port appeared the lights of the fishing and logging villages of Sayward and Kelsey Bay, nestled in the estuary of the Salmon River.
At 0215, Rainbow passed the entrance to Port Neville Chanel to starboard. A few lights on shore showed the Indian village and fishing port wharf sheltered inside the deep inlet. “Ship! Dead ahead!” called a lookout. The Officer of the Watch looked through his binoculars and saw that indeed, there was a glowing green V coming towards them, still several miles distant.
“Action Stations!” called the Officer. A dozen pairs of officers’ and lookouts’ eyes tried to make the outline of the ship, but it was black against a black sky. When the guns were all manned and the ship rigged for battle, the Officer ordered signals to challenge.
WHAT SHIP? flashed
Rainbow’s Morse light.
PRINCESS ALICE, came the response.
TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS, ordered
Rainbow. The forward 6 inch gun, the cruiser’s only gun that could fire directly ahead, was trained dead center on the approaching bow wave.
A coastal steamer with one tall funnel sprang into existence, lit cheerily as for an excursion.
“That is the
Princess Alice sir,” said the lookout. “I have sailed on her as crew, back in the day.”
RESUME BLACKOUT GODSPEED, signaled
Rainbow. The two ships passed head on, their wakes leaving parallel glowing lines in the channel.
At 0230 hours an engineering rating appeared on the bridge, wearing overalls well splotched with grease. “Sir, the starboard engine is repaired. We are ready to run at regular speed on you orders.” The engine telegraph was operated, and the Rainbow became friskier, and soon worked her way back up to 15 knots.
The lights of Telegraph Cove sawmill became visible to port at 0415. A few handheld lanterns moved along the wharf, as the early-rising loggers got ready for work. After another half hour the first glow of pre-dawn appeared to the east, casting the local hills and distant mountains in silhouette.
Commander Hose came back on watch. At 0445 the lookout called “Ship! Dead astern!” All eyes turned east following their wake, up Johnstone Strait. “Range 6 nautical miles, 12 thousand yards.”
“That puts us just inside the maximum range of a German 4.1 inch naval gun,” said Hose. Action Stations!” Hose studied the ship in his binoculars. The pre-dawn light was still very dim, and at the base of her trial of smoke, the dark shape of the unknown ship was masked against the dark outline of an island. After 10 minutes it could be seen that the ship had closed a bit of the interval between.
Rainbow’s aft 6 inch gun trained on the distant ship, even though it was still three thousand yards out of range.
“If that is a German cruiser shadowing us,” said Hose, “we will have to turn broadside to engage. A German light cruiser can fire 4 guns ahead or astern. We can only fire one.” The unknown ship made a minor course correction, and Hose could see through his binoculars that the ship had three tall funnels. As the minutes ticked by, the light gradually improved, and the ship drew slightly closer.
“That is not a cruiser,” said the lookout. “She looks like the
Prince George.”
“Or the
Prince Rupert,” said Hose. “Which has been reported to be captured by Germans and used as an armed raider.” He drummed his fingers on the rail.
Wait,” said Hose. “I feel like I have been here before. Send a morse light challenge to that ship.”
HMCS RAINBOW ASKS WHAT SHIP?
PRINCE GEORGE HOSPITAL SHIP BOUND FOR SWANSON BAY came the reply.
For the second time since dusk, Commander Hose breathed a deep sigh of relief.
Item is a glass plate photographic negative created by a topographical surveying party headed by A.F. Swannell, B.C.L.S. The photograph depicts a ...
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