Refuge in Surinam
On 24 August 1939 Goslar left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Galveston, Texas. Three days later, NDL ordered her to make for a port in a country that was either neutral, or preferably friendly to Germany. Goslar's Master, Captain Karl Berghoff, considered making for Mexico, but the next day NDL ordered Goslar to head for Germany. Finally, on 29 August, NDL ordered Goslar to make for a neutral port, but not in North America. Berghoff feared that if she made for Mexico, Goslar might encounter a Royal Navy warship, so he set her course toward Brazil.[1]
Finally, Berghoff changed course to Surinam, believing that there would not be war between Germany and the Netherlands. His crew disguised Goslar by painting her funnel and ventilators a different colour, changing her name, and replacing her German flag with a US one. At night she sailed with reduced lighting. In her engine room, preparations were made for rapid scuttling if necessary.[1]
On 1 September Germany invaded Poland, and on 3 September France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. On 5 September Goslar entered the Suriname River, still disguised as a US ship. She took on a Surinamese pilot to take her to a safe anchorage in Paramaribo. He told her officers that they were very lucky, because a French warship had been anchored off the mouth of the river throughout the previous day.[1]
Goslar had a crew of 15 German officers and men, and 49 Chinese seafarers. The Germans enjoyed the hospitality of German settlers in Surinam, including the German consul; and Dutch officials, including the harbour master of Paramaribo, N van Beek, who was also the police commissioner. However, the Chinese crew objected to remaining in port indefinitely. On 8 September then went on strike, and the next day Dutch colonial police arrested the strikers and removed them from the ship. A few days later the strikers agreed with Berghoff that they would continue to serve their contracts until the end of the year, after which they could either renew their contracts or return home. On that basis they were allowed back aboard ship.[2]
In December 1939 the Italian ocean liner MS Orazio, which operated between Genoa and Curaçao, was diverted to pick up the Chinese members of the crew. On 22 December the newspaper De West reported that she would arrive off Surinam on 24 or 25 December. She was already carrying about 100 Chinese seafarers from German ships in other Caribbean ports. Orazio was too big to come up the Paramaribo, so she would anchor at the lightship, and a tender would take the Chinese out to her.[3]
Orazio was to take the Chinese to Genoa, where they would be transferred to an Italian ship bound for Shanghai. One of Goslars German engineer officers unsuccessfully tried to travel with them, disguised as a blind passenger.[2] The 15 German members of Goslars complement remained aboard as a skeleton crew.
