HMCS Rainbow (1891)

HMCS Rainbow in 1910
History
United Kingdom
Name	Rainbow
Builder	Palmers, Hebburn
Laid down	1890
Launched	25 March 1891
Commissioned	1892
Decommissioned	1909
Stricken	1909
Fate	Transferred to Canada
Canada
Name	Rainbow
Commissioned	4 August 1910
Decommissioned	1 June 1920
Stricken	1 June 1920
Fate	Scrapped 1920
General characteristics
Class and type	Apollo-class protected cruiser
Displacement	3,600 long tons (3,700 t)
Length	314 ft (95.7 m)
Beam	43.5 ft (13.3 m)
Draught	17.5 ft (5.3 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft, 2-cylinder triple expansion, 7,000 ihp (5,200 kW) natural draught
Speed	19.75 knots (36.58 km/h; 22.73 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	273
Armament	2 × QF 6 in (152 mm) guns 6 × QF 4.724 in (120 mm) guns 8 × QF 6-pounder (57 mm) guns 4 × 14 in (360 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Deck: 1+1⁄4–2 in (32–51 mm) Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm) Gun shields: 4+1⁄2 in (114 mm) Engine hatch: 5 in (127 mm)

HMCS Rainbow was an Apollo-class protected cruiser built for Great Britain's Royal Navy as HMS Rainbow entering service in 1892. Rainbow saw time in Asian waters before being placed in reserve in 1909. In 1910 the cruiser was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy for service on the west coast. At the outbreak of the First World War, Rainbow was the only major Canadian or British warship on the western coast of North America. Due to age, the cruiser was taken out of service in 1917 and sold for scrap in 1920 and broken up.