The light cruiser HMS Pathfinder had the unhappy distinction of being the first ship ever to be sunk by a torpedo fired by submarine. The only ship which had been sunk by a submarine before her was the USS Housatonic during the American Civil War. She was the lead ship of the Pathfinder class, having a sister ship HMS Patrol.
She was built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, launched on July 16, 1904 and commissioned on July 18, 1905.
Pathfinder was sunk off St. Abbs Head Berwickshire in Scotland on Saturday September 5, 1914 by the German U-21 submarine commanded by Leutnant zur See Otto Hersing. At the time, she was the leader of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla based at the Rosyth, Scotland. The ship was struck in a magazine, which exploded causing the ship to sink within a few minutes with the loss of 259 men. There were 11 survivors.
There was also an HMS Pathfinder in the Second World War. She was a P Class Destroyer, penant G 19. Built by Hawthorn Leslie & Co., launched on 10 April, 1941; commissioned on April 13, 1942.
She was involved in the sinking the German submarines U-162 and U-203, but was bombed off Ramree Island, Burma on February 11, 1945.General Characteristics