HMS Pathfinder’s catastrophic loss

Pathfinder was serving with destroyer forces off St Abbs Head when SM U-21 torpedoed her on 5 September 1914. The torpedo detonated a forward magazine, destroying the cruiser within minutes and leaving little time for an organized escape. The account gives 259 dead and 40 survivors. The captain and his secretary survived after remaining aboard until the end. Eyewitness reports from shore describe the explosion and the debris field, while speculation about a disguised German trawler records how uncertain observers still were about submarine attack.