Pathfinder-class cruiser

The Pathfinder class was a two ship class of scout cruiser serving with the Royal Navy in World War I, and consisting of the ships HMS Pathfinder and HMS Patrol.

The three funnelled 'scout' cruisers were designed to operate as the lead ships of destroyer flotillas but, like other similar ships, were soon outrun by newer classes of destroyers and relegated to secondary duties. The Pathfinders were built by Cammell Laird and had only a partial armoured deck with side armour covering the engine rooms rather than the more usual full length protective deck. Pathfinder was originally to have been named Fastnet but the name was changed before construction was started. The scout cruisers had poor endurance, leading to the loss of the only scout cruiser sunk during the war, HMS Pathfinder. She was so short of coal whilst on patrol that she could only manage a speed of 5 knots making her an easy target for the German submarine U-21 and giving her the distinction of being the first warship sunk by submarine torpedo attack.

Ships

 * HMS Pathfinder - launched on 16 July 1904 and sunk by torpedoes fired by SMS U-21 (Germany) off the east coast of Scotland on 5 September 1914.
 * HMS Patrol - launched on 13 October 1904, damaged in action against German battlecruisers which raided Hartlepool in 1914. Sold for scrap on 21 April 1920.