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Even as the former HMCHS Prince George gently settled under the lapping surf, little time was wasted by the enterprising Hun. The small flotilla was soon down to only Leipzig and Algerine as the River Forth separated from the group, slowly slipping over the horizon with 35 of Leipzig’s crew aboard. Her pedestrian top speed of barely over 10 knots, cruisers worth of prisoners and a cargo of invaluable coal precluded her from any sort of combat operations. If all went well, the planned to rendezvous with her on their escape out through Queen Charlotte would be the next time they met but as one could expect, such things were merely hopes and dreams in war. Both warships plunged their way into the maw of the Juan de Fuca Strait at approximately 2200 hours as they began the push inland, lookouts very likely having their eyes peeled through the hazy spray of the night. As the international boundary between Canada and the United States bisected the strait itself, the Germans were essentially funneled down a 5 to 7 nautical mile wide corridor on the Canadian side to not break US neutrality. Normally such a strait would be bustling with traffic but in such wartime conditions and with the threat of raiders so close by, the Canadian side of the strait was devoid of any traffic. It was likely a major relief to the German crews that the swells that previously impeded their operations at sea earlier that day had followed them up the strait, creating a rough but vital chop to help shelter the enterprising raiders from view. The remaining 156 strong crew aboard Leipzig were likely somewhat less thankful of such weather as the seas continued to batter their ragged and holed vessel, the majority of the flooding and sea kept at bay by the temporary patches put in place. This damage served as a constant reminder than while they emerged from their battle with Rainbow as the victor, she had not gone down without a fight, providing the Germans a taste of what they might deal with if they were return to the open ocean.

As the pair of vessels continued down the strait, they passed the Jordan River at 0033 as the date rolled over to August 16. The Germans received a significant shock when a sudden barrage of coded wireless transmissions was transmitted at very high strength nearby. With nerves very likely stretched to their breaking point, the crews would have been ready at their guns as the long stretching gaze of a spotlight could be seen slicing its way through the light mist and chop. Luckily for the would-be raiders, the spotlight seemed to find its target on the opposite side of the strait and ceased its sweeping quickly. As the Germans remained steadfast in their shuffle up the border, the patrol ship CGS Malaspina stood at full combat readiness only 3.5 miles away. During her routine night patrols of the area, she had come across a suspicious vessel that had repeatedly cut over the American side of the strait and began sailing somewhat erratically up the Canadian side with all lights blacked out. Due to the behavior, the Malaspina quickly came to the assumption that the vessel could be a German merchant raider attempting to force its way up through the strait and wreak havoc on the relatively unprotected areas inside. The situation further escalated as the signal lamp hails were initially not answered and shortly after, the replies returned being almost nonsensical and broken. The patrol vessel cracked on her searchlight and illuminated the vessel, its flag showing its affiliation apparently as the Japanese merchant Azumasan Maru. The barrage of wireless communications sent between Malaspina and Esquimalt were started with the following,

CGS MALASPINA TO HMCD ESQUIMALT SUSPICIOUS MERCHANT AZUMASAN MARU INTERCEPTED IN JUAN DE FUCA STRAIT POTENTIAL ENEMY MERCHANT RAIDER. JAPANESE FLAG FLYING AT MAST COMMUNICATIONS UNSUCCESSFUL.


With their 6-pdr deck gun firmly trained on the vessel and spotlight illuminating her, the men of Malaspina frantically continued to raise communications as they observed the vessel for any suspicious features. There did not look to be any hidden weapons or crew on her deck, although in the conditions, such details were likely rather difficult to make out. The minutes ticked by as tension continued to mount until to the relief of both vessels, communication was properly established at last. As it would turn out, a young trainee had been assigned to man the lamp while his superior had been sleeping and at the sight of a vessel rather aggressively challenging them before illuminating his vessel with a powerful search light, the poor lad had suffered a panic attack. The story seemed rather convenient to the still suspicious patrol boat however after the merchant snapped on her lights and completely illuminated herself, the Malaspina relented to the situation. As the Japanese were seemingly unaware that they had blundered over the boundary line multiple times, the Canadian patrol vessel assisted them in regaining their bearings before seeing them on their way towards Seattle. By the time the Malaspina had resumed in her patrol duties, the German raiders were long gone up the coast and closer to their objectives by the minute.

As 0200 hours rolled by and the Germans came around the vicinity of Race Rocks Light, the most dangerous leg of the journey was directly ahead of them. If the information they had been supplied with was indeed correct, the antique coastal batteries of 6” disappearing guns would only have the range to fire roughly halfway out to their position on the boundary. Ideally the Germans would not be spotted at all and in order to ensure this, Leipzig and Algerine separated to attack their different objectives. The thought was likely that if something went wrong, the larger and more capable vessel should at least be able to attack the primary target in the area before escaping. Algerine with her well known local presence and White Ensign flying high was likely meant to draw as little suspicion as possible from any onlookers, although such things can only be guessed in the grand scheme of things. The much spritelier cruiser accelerated to her top speed of around 22 knots as she raced towards Vancouver Harbor while the older sloop would make her way slowly towards the coal rich areas of Ladysmith, Nanaimo and wherever else she could reach. The presence of only a single local pilot was dearly felt but attempts were made to work with the hand they were given, Algerine’s navigators were assisted by fairly new Royal Navy issue charts and a preplanned route devised by Mr. Baumann to hopefully allow them to complete their objective successfully. The sloop was somewhat undermanned with only 70 men aboard but for the duties that would likely be required, a full crew would not be needed. The thoughts of lurking enemy submarines likely stuck fast within the heads of the Germans aboard the much slower Algerine although unknown to them, both vessels were snuggly tucked away within the confines of Esquimalt for the time being. Both sister ships had been laid up pier side the previous day, CC-1 with partially disassembled diesel engines while CC-2 was currently undergoing dummy torpedo firing drills in anticipation for her stocks arriving.

As it would turn out for the Germans, all Canadian attention for the night had been focused upon the apparent raider attempting to force its way up the strait and the subsequent winding down of alarms. Both ships would slip past the edge of the Victoria/Esquimalt defenses at 0300 hours and 0341 hours respectively, sailing past Discovery Island and transiting up the Haro Strait. Dawn would soon be on its way and with the morning light creeping more and more over the horizon, the citizens of British Columbia would be in for the greatest shock of their lives. At this point, the waters ahead were littered with lighthouses and close enough to the American boundary that it was unlikely, especially in the morning light, that the Germans could sneak by undetected. Even if the German would be caught flat footed as they made their way towards their objectives, it was unlikely either vessel could be intercepted before they reached their objectives. With Leipzig on schedule to reach Vancouver Harbor by 0630 and Algerine to make Ladysmith by 0920, the realization set in with the Germans that the interior of this far away coast might never be the same again.