Royal Navy Rainbow was ordered as part of the
Naval Defence Act of 1889. The vessel's
keel was laid down by
Palmers at
Hebburn-On-Tyne in England on 30 December 1889. The cruiser was
launched on 25 March 1891 and entered service in 1892, completing in January 1893. She arrived back at Devonport from a tour of the
Mediterranean with the squadron in April 1902, and took part in the
fleet review held at
Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the
coronation of King
Edward VII. Captain Charles Delabere Granville was appointed in command on 20 August 1902, and visited
Souda Bay, Crete, with other ships of the squadron for combined manoeuvres the following month. In October 1902 she was ordered back to Devonport for a refit, and late that year she was again back for temporary service in the Mediterranean to protect British interests in
Morocco, subsequently visiting
Las Palmas in early February 1903. During the following years, she saw a severe reduction in fleet support due to her high operating cost, resulting in only minor modernization. Her crew rotation at this time was used as a training cycle. In 1904, the cruiser was restricted to harbour duty. During discussions on the type of cruisers to be sent to Canada, the Admiralty believed that the
Apollo-class cruiser was the right choice. Canada paid $225,000 to acquire
Rainbow, using outstanding money from the Marine and Fisheries Department. Before departing Great Britain, the ships required alterations to make them suitable for training. This required new heating systems, an up-to-date galley, the latest in Marconi wireless, the enlargement of the cadet gunroom and principal messes and the removal of the obsolete secondary armament. However, after commissioning, the status of the Canadian vessels and their ability to operate without direction from the Admiralty kept the new ships within coastal waters. This limited
Rainbow to fisheries patrols until the matter was settled. In 1911, the cruiser had her 6-pounder guns removed and replaced with
QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval guns. Her service was quiet on the west coast, performing ceremonial duties, training and coastal fisheries patrol, notably apprehending the American fishing
schooner Edrie in February 1913 for illegal fishing. When
Niobe was laid up in 1913, her crew was sent west to fill out
Rainbows complement. , where she was sent to guard the freighter
Komagata Maru in July 1914 In July 1914,
Rainbow was called to
Vancouver to assist with
an international incident that was unfolding.
Komagata Maru, a Japanese merchant ship filled with
Sikh immigrants from India, challenged Canada's immigration law, designed to prevent immigration from
South Asia. The ship's passengers were not permitted to disembark even though they were
British subjects and the ship had sat in Vancouver harbour for two months. After the local authorities were rebuffed in their attempts to make the ship leave,
Rainbow was ordered to intervene. After some discussion with the passengers, who had taken over the vessel, those aboard
Komagata Maru agreed to leave Vancouver only when supplies for the ship were provided. When the First World War broke out,
Rainbow was sent to cover the withdrawal of the British
sloops, and , which had been engaged protecting British citizens during civil unrest in
Mexico. She was the largest armed ship the
Allies had at the time in the western Pacific Ocean and was ordered to find and engage ships of the
Imperial German Navy in the Pacific Ocean; in particular the
light cruisers and .
Rainbow never met either of these ships, although she missed
Leipzig by only a day at
San Francisco. The vessel remained the only source of protection for shipping in western North America until the arrival of the Japanese
armoured cruiser . Following the destruction of the German Pacific Fleet at the
Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914, the greatest threat to shipping in Pacific was considered to be armed German raiders and
Rainbow was considered to be a match for all but the fastest. However, in 1915, her patrols were shortened due to the lack of a
collier to refuel
Rainbow while out on patrol. In early 1916,
Rainbow was still patrolling the west coast of North America, performing reconnaissance on German shipping. On 23 April 1916, she seized the German-owned but American-flagged schooner
Oregon and then followed that up by seizing the Mexican-flagged schooner
Leonor on 2 May. The cruiser returned to Esquimalt with the prizes in tow on 30 May. This money was placed in trust with Canada by the Russian government for protection due to the impending Russian revolution. The Royal Canadian Navy found that the cost of operating
Rainbow was using up too much of the West Coast naval operations budget, and the crew of
Rainbow were sorely needed on the Atlantic coast for the fight against the
U-boats.
Rainbow was decommissioned and deactivated on 8 May 1917, her crew sent east. On 5 July she was recommissioned in Esquimalt as a
depot ship. She served in this capacity until 1 June 1920, when she was sold for scrap to a
Seattle shipbroker. ==Notes==