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As Rainbow finally arrived off San Francisco on the morning of August 7, Commander Hose assessed his current situation. Between himself and the opinions of his navigator, they had predicted that Algerine and Shearwater should be inside San Francisco harbor or around the area itself, unless they had ceased hugging the coast and left for open seas. The lack of wireless sets aboard the pair of ships meant that they were hard enough to track down, although more worryingly was the fact that the pair of ships could be completely unaware of the declaration of war. One of those predictions would be quickly proven incorrect as upon entering the harbor, both sloops were nowhere to be found. The harbor itself was packed with merchantmen of various nations, the news of Rainbow and Leipzig in the area had halted the traffic of all belligerent countries. Local American counterparts roamed freely as Rainbow moved under the Golden Gate bridge and into port, picking up a local pilot to guide her in. It had seemed that NSHQ underestimated the lengths that the United States would go to uphold its neutrality as when Hose pulled alongside, a gaggle of men wearing the uniform of American Customs Officers met him. Their firm statements reinforced by the pistols strapped to their hips, they informed Hose that belligerents were allowed enough coal to safely reach the nearest friendly port, Esquimalt in his case. As Rainbow had enough fuel to cruise in the area until August 10 and return to Esquimalt, the Americans initially denied him any refueling. After some drawn out arguing, Hose managed to wrangle 50 tons of coal out of the Americans after citing his fuel margins for safe passage were not adequate.

A meeting had already been arranged with the local British Consul General in regard to any additional intelligence but to the surprise of nobody, Hose received what he had expected. There was unreliable and spontaneous reports that Leipzig and Nurnberg were everywhere yet nowhere at once, the seemingly most reliable piece of intel stated Leipzig had been spotted coaling in Mexico 2 days ago. A stores ship was intended to meet Rainbow 2 miles south of the Farallon Islands in the coming days and as an excellent interception point for Leipzig or the sloops, Hose decided to patrol in this area for as long as possible. When informed about Rainbow’s fuel situation, the Consul General told Hose that he would attempt to get him coal somehow and would inform him by telegram if this was possible. After picking up four former Royal Navy rating present in the area, Hose departed the harbor at midnight and assumed his patrolling position. Through the mist and fog, Hose steered Rainbow on a course south of the Islands, waiting for any ships to cross his path. The ships crew worked diligently through the next day to jettison all of her flammable wood, trimmings and other non-essential articles into the ocean in preparation for combat. As this material floated towards the shore, locals reported Rainbow as being sunk off the coast. They would be correct, although early by a few days.

Concerning the supposed pair of German cruisers, only Leipzig was actually off the coast of North America at this point. While the British would not realize this until later, Nurnberg had rendezvoused with Graf Spee’s squadron in Ponape on August 6. Leipzig had been slowly moving up the coast, searching for any British shipping coming out of the major port of San Francisco. Fregattenkapitän Johannes Haun had strict orders to not harass any neutral flag American vessels and with his presence being known, British shipping in the area had become almost non-existent. Haun would later state in his book titled Leipzig: The Coastal Raider, “British shipping along the coast of North America had been paralyzed with fear. It seems our presence had been effective to the point of counter intuitiveness, merchantmen scattered across the horizon at the mere sight of our funnels and at both San Diego and San Francisco, the British hid themselves away nervously. I had hoped to find a belligerent flagged collier on the journey to San Francisco however, we had to wait substantially longer until our fuel stocks were replenished.” German intelligence had picked up on the presence of Rainbow after her dramatic entrance into San Francisco harbor and with local sources stating she would likely be patrolling in the area, Haun was faced with a dilemma. His vessel was certainly superior to the ancient Canadian training cruiser however, actively engaging such a ship would force him to use irreplaceable ammunition and risk damage to his own vessel. Both of these outcomes would bring a swift end to any aspirations of commerce raiding and cause him to likely be interned or forced to scuttle his ship. He faced a similar issue regarding the pair of sloops he had previously worked alongside off Mexico, although to a lesser degree. Haun was determined to only fight his Canadian opponent if he was forced to do so, although sinking one of the only remaining warships on the coast would essentially allow him unfettered access to all shipping and local infrastructure above the border.