Pathfinder-class cruiser

	HMS Patrol
Class overview
Name	Pathfinder class
Builders	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Forward class
Succeeded by	Sentinel class
Built	1903–1905
In commission	1905–1919
Completed	2
Lost	1
Scrapped	1
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Scout cruiser
Displacement	2,940 long tons (2,987 t)
Length	370 ft (112.8 m) (p/p)
Beam	38 ft 9 in (11.8 m)
Draught	15 ft 2 in (4.6 m) ( deep load)
Installed power	16,500 ihp (12,300 kW); 12 Laird- Normand boilers;
Propulsion	2 Shafts, 2 triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	3,400 nmi (6,300 km; 3,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	289
Armament	10 × QF 12-pdr 3 in (76 mm) guns; 8 × QF 3-pdr (47 mm) guns; 2 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes;
Armour	Waterline belt: 2 in (51 mm); Deck: 0.625–1.5 in (15.9–38.1 mm); Conning tower: 3 in (76 mm);

The Pathfinder-class cruisers were a pair of

First World War began in August 1914 they were given coastal defence missions, Pathfinder on the coast of Scotland and Patrol on the coast of Yorkshire. The latter ship was badly damaged when the Germans bombarded Hartlepool in December. She spent the rest of the war in British waters. The ship was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap

the following year. Pathfinder was sunk by a German submarine shortly after the war began, the first sinking of a British warship during the war by a German submarine.

Background and description

In 1901–1902, the Admiralty developed scout cruisers to work with

18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes. It accepted four of the submissions and ordered one ship from each builder in the 1902–1903 Naval Programme and a repeat in the following year's programme.^[1]

The two ships from

deep load. They displaced 2,940 long tons (2,987 t) at normal load and 3,240 long tons (3,292 t) at deep load. Their crew consisted of 289 officers and ratings.^[2]

The Pathfinder-class ships were powered by a pair of four-cylinder

Normand boilers that exhausted into three funnels. The engines were designed to produce a total of 16,500 indicated horsepower (12,300 kW) which was intended to give a maximum speed of 25 knots.^[3] Pathfinder slightly exceeded her design speed when she ran her sea trials in 1905.^[4] The scout cruisers soon proved too slow for this role as newer destroyers outpaced them. The sisters carried a maximum of 600 long tons (610 t) of coal which gave them a range of 3,400 nautical miles (6,300 km; 3,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).^[5]

The main armament of the Pathfinder class consisted of ten QF 12-pounder 18-cwt guns.

amidships. They also carried eight QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and two single mounts for 18-inch torpedo tubes, one on each broadside. The ships' protective deck armour ranged in thickness from .625 to 1.5 inches (16 to 38 mm) and the conning tower had armour 3 inches (76 mm) inches thick. They had a waterline belt 2 inches (51 mm) thick abreast engine rooms only.^[3]

Ships

Construction data
Ship	Builder^[7]	Laid down^[7]	Launched^[7]	Completed^[7]	Fate^[7]
HMS Pathfinder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	15 August 1903	16 July 1904	18 July 1905	Sunk by a submarine, 5 September 1914
HMS Patrol	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead	31 October 1903	13 October 1904	26 September 1905	Sold for scrap, April 1920

Service

The sisters were in reserve for most of the first decade of their existence. After the beginning of the

paid off in 1919 and sold for scrap in 1920.^[8]

Pathfinder was originally to have been named Fastnet but the name was changed before construction was started.[9] Leader of the 8th Destroyer Flotilla, she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-21 in the approaches to the Firth of Forth on 5 August 1914 with the loss of 259 men,^[10] giving her the distinction of being the first warship sunk by a submarine.^[11]

Notes

^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Footnotes

^ Friedman 2009, pp. 99–101
^ Friedman 2009, pp. 100, 294, 301
^ ^a ^b Robert 1979, pp. 84–85
^ McBride 1994, p. 277
^ Friedman 2009, pp. 101, 294
^ Friedman 2011, p. 112
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Morris 1987, p. 113
^ Preston 1985, p. 17
^ Friedman 2009, p. 302
^ McBride 1994, pp. 274–275
^ Goldrick 2015, p. 142

Bibliography

Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 978-1-59114-081-8
.

Friedman, Norman (2011). Naval Weapons of World War One. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth.
ISBN 978-1-84832-100-7
.

Goldrick, James (2015). Before Jutland: The Naval War in Northern European Waters, August 1914–February 1915. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 978-1-59114-349-9
.

McBride, K. D. (1994). "The Royal Navy 'Scout' Class of 1904–05". Warship International. XXXI (3): 260–281.
ISSN 0043-0374
.

Morris, Douglas (1987). Cruisers of the Royal and Commonwealth Navies Since 1879. Liskeard, UK: Maritime Books.
ISBN 0-907771-35-1
.

Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 1–104.
ISBN 0-85177-245-5
.

Roberts, John (1979). "Great Britain (Including Empire Forces)". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–114.
ISBN 0-8317-0302-4
.

External links

[1] "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

[2] Friedman 2009, pp. 99–101

[f6-3] Friedman 2009, pp. 100, 294, 301

[ck8-4] Robert 1979, pp. 84–85

[5] McBride 1994, p. 277

[6] Friedman 2009, pp. 101, 294

[7] Friedman 2011, p. 112

[m2-8] Morris 1987, p. 113

[gg6-9] Preston 1985, p. 17

[10] Friedman 2009, p. 302

[11] McBride 1994, pp. 274–275

[12] Goldrick 2015, p. 142

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v t e Pathfinder-class cruisers
Pathfinder Patrol
Preceded by: Forward class Followed by: Sentinel class
List of cruisers of the Royal Navy

Seaplane carriers		Empress^S^V Riviera^S^V Engadine^S^V Ark Royal^S Ben-my-Chree^S^V Campania^S^V Raven II^S^V Anne^S^V Vindex^S^V Manxman^S^V Furious^M Pegasus^S^V Nairana^S^V Argus^S^V Vindictive^S^V
Dreadnought battleships	Dreadnought^S Bellerophon St Vincent Neptune^S Colossus Orion King George V Erin^S Agincourt^S Iron Duke Canada^S Queen Elizabeth Revenge
Pre-dreadnought battleships	Royal Sovereign Majestic Canopus Formidable London Duncan King Edward VII Swiftsure Lord Nelson
Battlecruisers	Invincible Indefatigable Lion Queen Mary^S Tiger^S Renown Courageous Admiral^S^A
Armoured cruisers	Cressy Drake Monmouth Devonshire Duke of Edinburgh Warrior Minotaur
Heavy cruisers	Hawkins^A
Light cruisers	Town^G Arethusa C^G^C Danae^C Emerald^A
Protected cruisers	Apollo Astraea Eclipse Blake Pearl Edgar Powerful Diadem Arrogant Pelorus Highflyer Challenger Topaze
Scout cruisers	Adventure Forward Pathfinder Sentinel Boadicea Blonde Active
Destroyer flotilla leaders	Swift^S Faulknor Marksman Parker Thornycroft (or Shakespeare)^C Admiralty (or Scott)^C
Destroyers	A^G B^G C^G D^G E^G F G H I K L Admiralty M Hawthorn M Thornycroft M Yarrow M Yarrow Later M Medea Arno^S R^G S^G^C Talisman V and W^G^C
Torpedo boats	TB 81^S TB 98 TB 109 TB 114 Cricket^G
Monitors	Marshal Ney Abercrombie Lord Clive Humber Gorgon M15 M29 Erebus
Minesweepers	Racecourse Hunt Dance
Gunboats	Fly Insect
Submarines	A B C D E F G H^C J K L^C M^C R^C Swordfish^S V
Sloops	P Cadmus Flower Acacia Azalea Arabis Anchusa Aubrietia 24^C
naval trawlers	Castle Mersey
A All completed after the war C One or more completed after the war G Grouping of several classes M converted from Courageous class S Single ship of class V Conversions X Cancelled