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August 12 proved to be a very uneventful day for the crew of Leipzig, at least initially. It had become painfully obvious that their presence had been too effective in stopping shipping all across the coast. They met nothing besides American flagged merchants, fishing trawlers and yachts as they chugged ever further North at a pedestrian 10 knots. It had seemed the SS Colusa was one of her kind, her fellow vessels staying in the safety of port. The weather had been clear and hot throughout the afternoon but mercifully for the crew, a light rain had come through to provide a small reprieve. As the cruiser approached Cape Mendocino off the California coast at 1700 hours, lookouts on duty reported a trail of smoke coming from the horizon. This was initially believed to be yet another American flagged ship but as the distance between the two ships began to close, the Germans noticed something was wrong. The ship was moving fast, likely approaching 20 knots, far too quick for any normal merchant vessel. Especially strange was the amount of smoke coming from her stacks as she moved at such a pace, far lighter than it should have been. It was decided to investigate the vessel and as Leipzig slowly crept up towards her top speed to intercept, the lookouts aboard only became more confused. The ship possessed a cruiser stern alongside a trio of funnels amidships, likely identifying marks of an enemy warship. Leipzig and her crew prepared for battle once again as her officers tried to make sense of the situation, they had sunk the only threatening surface combatant on the coast and this silhouette definitely did not match either sloop based out of Esquimalt.

The minutes ticked by tortuously as the tired men stood at their action stations, only for the lookouts to relay more information. A warship was not what lay in front of them, the lookouts described the high sided, ornately dark hull and superstructure festooned with lifeboats. The crews eased somewhat but this ship seemed to be flying the Red Ensign alongside another strange white flag from the foremast. Unable to jam the communications of his enemy, Leipzig was essentially forced to make contact at this point. If she was to be reported by this ship, they might as well take her as a prize, the speed shown could make her a useful tender. Her signalmen communicated with the British ship once they were within range, ordering her to stop and prepare for inspection. Strangely, the merchant promptly acknowledged the request and began to bleed off her steam. A boarding party was quickly put together with Fregattenkapitän Haun personally leading the inspection. With the distance closed to well within visual range, the situation devolved into a somehow more confusing mess. The ship in question was identified as SS Prince George, flying the Geneva Convention flag of a hospital ship alongside a similar red cross on white background painted on her central funnel. As the boarding party rowed towards the strange vessel, a group of men in naval uniforms opened the side cargo loading bays and threw rope ladders down into the water below. Their guests quickly clambered up the ladders and fanned out throughout the ship, boots clattering and bayonets glistening as they went. Haun tipped his cap to a pair of civilian crew members quickly walking past as made his way to the bridge. When he arrived, he found his Luger was of better use in it's holster. His crew had already locked down the bridge and the nearby wireless station, seizing control of the thankfully intact equipment.

There he came face to face with a pair of men, one clad in a naval uniform and the other wearing some style of civilian officers’ uniform. Lieutenant Saul turned out to be an officer within the Canadian Naval Reserve while the other man, Dan Donald, was the ships regular civilian captain. Introductions were rather curt as Haun began to question the men regarding the condition of their ship. Both Canadians were quick to maintain that they were indeed a military hospital ship on their way to rescue and assist survivors from a recent naval battle off San Francisco, listing off their personnel and facilities to the German officer. Haun informed them that he had wounded aboard and asked if they would treat them, to which they agreed. Jumping to another point, he was quick to point out that their ship was not properly painted as in accordance to the Geneva Convention. Military hospital-ships were to be distinguished by a painted white outside with a horizontal band of green about a metre and a half in breadth, the port side was painted in such a manner but the starboard side was not, the red cross on the funnels should have been placed on each broadside as well. This alone was grounds to seize or sink this ship. Even with that being said though, the state of the ship was obviously one of chaos, this ship could have very well been pressed into service by the desperate Canadians. Haun was not jumping to become the first German warship to capture or sink a hospital ship, even with perfect justification, British newspapers would paint him as a lowlife criminal to all corners of the planet. He would wait on the bridge for his team to finish their sweep, any implements of war would instantly render this ship void of any protections and given their infractions already, the ships true purpose was already shrouded in mystery. This plan would prove to be the correct course of action upon closer inspection of the Captain’s cabin. Within a safe was a collection of handwritten papers, detailing the ships actions and objectives thus far. It seems the civilian Captain was ordered or otherwise felt it pertinent to keep a log of all activities likely to report to his civilian superiors at a later date, this would prove the ships undoing. As Haun perused these logs, he discovered the original requisition information for a tender alongside the orders to move down the coast to rendezvous with Rainbow. This was the damning evidence he required, hospital ships must not be used for any military purpose and acting as a tender to a naval ship fell under this rule.
After it was properly communicated to Leipzig that they were taking the ship, Haun and his men rounded up the crew placed them all into one of the many spacious hospital areas for safe keeping. The prisoners numbered 31 Naval Reservists, 54 crewmen/engineering staff and 6 medical staff. Haun was somewhat disappointed in the fact that all of the engineering staff seemed to be very stereotypical white Canadians, part of him was hoping to encounter a crew comprised of Lascars as the British called them. A non-white engineering crew might have been able to be paid off and kept aboard running the ship, freeing more of his men for other duties. It was no matter; he would make do with what he had. As Haun was assigning guards to the prisoners, the Head Nurse barged her way over to the Officer with a guise of rage on her face. One of the guards swung to point a bayonet at the approaching woman, only to be met with her equally sharp tongue. Haun would later state, “I had not met a woman previously with such a way with words. One of the guards I had initially stationed with the prisoners was rather young, perhaps early 20’s at most. He turned to meet with woman bayonet forward, presumably to protect his commanding officer from any harm. The woman stared directly passed the bayonet in her face and began unleashing a verbal torrent on the boy, as would a mother scolding a child. For the dignity of the sailor, I had to step in.” The Head Nurse informed Haun that under the Geneva Convention, hospital staff were not permitted to be made prisoners of war and must be allowed to continue their duties. Additionally if the Germans were to capture this ship which they were employed on, they must guarantee the hospital staff equal pay and allowances corresponding rank within their own navy. Haun did not protest to woman as she was indeed correct and if nothing else, these medical staff could be very helpful in treating his own wounded.

Haun quickly returned to Leipzig to consult with his pilot and officers, this capture could change their situation on this coast completely.