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Hello, I’d like to suggest one of two ships that help start the RCN: HMCS Rainbow.
History:
In 1889, Rainbow would be ordered as part of the Naval Defence Act of that same year. She’d be laid down on the 30th of December 1889 by Palmers at Hebburn-On-Tyne, with her launching happening on the 25th of March 1891, and the process of her entering service would start in 1892 and finish in January of 1893. Rainbow would serve at the China Station that was located in Hong Kong from 1895 to 1898, after which she would be relocated to Malta for the years 1898 to 1899, after of which it would be deemed her operating cost was excessive, which would have her see little service between the years of 1900 and 1901. What see did see at this time would happen much closer to England. Rainbow would be commissioned for service in the cruiser squadron as an extra ship for the home waters; this would have been done by Captain Tomas Young Greet, in Devonport on the 17th of December 1901. In April of 1902, she’d take part in a tour of the Mediterranean with her squadron, and after returning home for that, she’d take part in the fleet review that happened at Spithead as part of the coronation for King Edward VII. In September, with a number of ships of her squadron, she’d visit Souda Bay, Crete, for combined manoeuvres. This would be followed up with her returning to Devonport for a retrofit in October, before being rushed back into service to help protect British interests in Morocco, and subsequently visiting Las Palmas in February of 1903. This would be her last major operation in British service, as in 1904 she’d be restricted to harbour duty, before her complete decommissioning in 1909, due to her high operating costs as mentioned before. This also meant she didn’t really see much in the way of modernizations.
Rainbow would be recommissioned as HMCS Rainbow on the 4th of August in 1910, where she joined Niobe in being purchased to be used as training ships at the Royal Naval College of Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was because during discussions for what cruisers to be sent to Canada, they believed the Apollo-class was the right choice, leading to Canada paying $225,000 to acquire Rainbow; this came from money outstanding from the Marine and Fisheries Department. Tho before either ship could leave the UK, they had to undergo modifications, there would include a new heating system, the galley being brought up to date, the absolute latest in Marconi wireless, an enlargement of the cadet gunroom and principal mess and finally removal of obsolete secondary armament. Rainbow would be assigned to the west coast of Canada after being commissioned; she would be the first Canadian ship to sail around South America by the Strait of Magellan. This was a 12-week passage that covered over 15,000 nautical miles that would have her arriving in Esquimalt, British Columbia, on the 7th of November 1910. Due to outside issues, Rainbow would be limited to coastal waters for the start of her service. Rainbow would be up-gunned to QF 12-pounder 12-cwt guns in 1911. The west coast would be quiet for the most part, with her doing odd jobs. She would apprehend an American fishing schooner, Edrie, in February of 1913. July of 1914 would see Rainbow called to Vancouver to help deal with an international incident involving Komagata Maru after it was hijacked by Sikhs from India who were challenging Canada’s immigration law. Rainbow would escort the ship out of Vancouver on the 23rd of July after an agreement for it to leave the port after receiving supplies.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Rainbow would be sent to cover the withdrawal of HMS Shearwater and Algerine, who had been protecting British citizens during the civil unrest in Mexico. Due to the fact that she was the largest armed ship in the western Pacific at the time, Rainbow would be ordered to hunt down SMS Leipzig and Nürnberg. Despite not meeting either ship, she would just miss Leipzig by San Francisco. With the arrival of the Japanese armoured cruiser Izumo, help would relieve Rainbow, as she had the only source of protection in western North America. After the destruction of the German Pacific Fleet in December 1914, the greatest threat in the Pacific was now considered to be the armed German raiders, of which the fastest of which Rainbow, was considered to be a match for, but due to a lack of a collier to refuel, Rainbow’s patrols would be shortened in 1915. She would perform reconnaissance on German shipping in early 1916, seizing two boats. Between late 1916 and early 1917, she would transport Russian gold bullion between Esquimalt and Vancouver. Her fate wouldn’t look good from here; with her cost found to take up too much of the West Coast naval operation budget and her crew needed to fight U-boats, Rainbow would be decommissioned on the 8th of May 1917. She would be recommissioned on the 5th of July as a depot ship, and would stay that when untill the 1st of June 1920, when she was sold for scrap to a Seattle shipbroker.
More pics
Specs:
Class & 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 12-pounder 12-cwt gun
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)
Sources
HMCS Rainbow (1891) - Wikipedia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLAce7AZdQY
HMCS RAINBOW - For Posterity's Sake
The Career of H.M.C.S. “Rainbow" - Hallmark Heritage Society
https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rainbow-ship
RCN Cruisers: HMCS Rainbow, HMCS Niobe, HMCS Aurora - SilverHawkAuthor Website Military History Materials
Life In HMCS Rainbow During the First World War