Lives of the First World War

5th September 1914

HMS Pathfinder - The first warship sunk by a U-Boat On Saturday 5th September 1914 HMS Pathfinder, a Royal Navy Scout Cruiser was torpedoed by the German submarine U21 near St Abbs Head. A single torpedo hit the forward magazine causing it to explode, Pathfinder sank in 4 minutes with the loss of 260 lives. She was the first warship ever to be sunk by a U-boat. The official navy story is one of an outdated ship, low on fuel, caught unawares by one of Germany’s new U-boats. The real story is a catalogue of errors by the captain which led him to expose his ship and crew to a great risk – one that did not pay off. U21 spotted Pathfinder at 3pm at 1545 lookouts on Pathfinder spotted a torpedo wake heading towards the starboard bow at a range of 1,500 yards. The officer of the watch, Lieutenant-Commander Favell gave orders for the starboard engine to be put astern and the port engine to be set at full ahead while the wheel was fully turned in an attempt to take avoiding action. At 1550 the torpedo detonated beneath the bridge – the ship sank in 4 minutes. Captain Martin-Leake made 2 major errors 1) He knew U-boats were operating in the Firth of Fourth but still ordered his escort back to dock in Rosyth 2) He allowed his ship to run low on fuel so his speed (5 knots) made targeting easy and maneuvering to avoid the torpedo too slow Eye witness to the rescue - torpedo boats came into view, tearing through the water to the scene of the wreck, they made a great wide circle of the place, and we could see them picking up the people.. It was an awful scene there was nothing but wreckage for about a mile. The sea was covered with splinters and clothes and things. We never saw a single body. The Wreck - The Pathfinder is a protected war grave. It lies in 2 pieces, the front part of the ship which took the major impact is badly smashed and broken. The rear part of the ship (2 miles to the south) remains largely intact albeit covered in debris from the sea. The diagram and pictures on this page are from Wrecksite (see web page in references) Conclusions – It is difficult 101 years on from the sinking of HMS Pathfinder to know exactly what happened and whether there are circumstances which lead the captain to make the decisions he did. On the main issues it is worth making the following observations:  The inquiry into the sinkings, a few weeks later of 3 cruisers lead to criticism of captains for not keeping their protective destroyers around them.  There was evidence in the Navy’s hands which described the potential impact of the U-boats on shipping – Over the course of WW1 U-boats sunk 11 million tons of supplies over the next 4 years.  Captain Martin-Leake’s decision to send his destroyers and torpedo boats back to Rosyth left his ship exposed to attack  Running out of coal – there is no doubt that Pathfinders design meant that at full steam her range was more limited than the newer ships with steam turbines. The capacity of the ship was known to all its crew and most particularly its captain. There was no pressing need to extend the patrol to the extent that its speed was reduced to a third of the minimum need to maintain maneuverability. It is often easy to look back on difficult events with hindsight and comment on the deeds and actions of others. This analysis suggests that with different decisions and a slightly more cautious captain the crew of HMS Pathfinder could well have been saved that day to fight on against the High Seas Fleet.

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