| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Destroyer |
| Class | P |
| Pennant | G 10 |
| Built by | Hawthorn Leslie & Co. (Hebburn-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 20 Oct 1939 |
| Laid down | 5 Mar 1940 |
| Launched | 10 Apr 1941 |
| Commissioned | 13 Apr 1942 |
| End service | |
| Loss position | |
| History | HMS Pathfinder (Lt.Cdr. Thomas Frederick Hallifax, RN) was declared a constructive total loss on 11 February 1945 after being damaged by bombs from Japanese aircraft off Ramree Island, Burma. Finally scrapped in November 1948 at Milford Haven. More on HMS Pathfinder see this website (offsite link). |
| Former name | HMS Onslaught |
Commands listed for HMS Pathfinder (G 10)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Cdr. Edward Albert Gibbs, DSO, RN | 6 Jan 1942 | Nov 1943 |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Charles Wickham Malins, DSC, RN | Nov 1943 | Nov 1943 |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Frederick William Hawkins, RN | Nov 1943 | Dec 1943 |
| 4 | Lt. Thomas Frederick Hallifax, RN | Dec 1943 | Ca mid 45 |
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Noteable events involving Pathfinder include:
22 Jul 1942
HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and Bar, RN) picks up 23 survivors from the British merchant Cortona that was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-201 south of the Azores in position 32º45'N, 24º45'W.
12 Aug 1942
The Italian submarine Cobalto was rammed and sunk off Bizerta, Tunisia after being forced to surface after being depth charged by the British destroyers HMS Ithuriel (Lt.Cdr. D.H. Maitland-Makgill-Crichton, DSC, RN) and HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and Bar, RN). It was Ithuriel that rammed the submarine.
3 Sep 1942
The German submarine U-162 was sunk in the mid-Atlantic north-east of Trinidad, in position 12º21'N, 59º29'W, by depth charges from the British destroyers HMS Vimy (Lt.Cdr. H.G.D. le Chair, RN) HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and Bar, RN) and
HMS Quentin (Lt.Cdr. A.H.P. Noble, DSC, RN). (see map)
21 Dec 1942
At 02.23 hours on 21 December 1942 the German submarine U-562 fired a spread of four torpedoes at convoy KMF-5 about 40 miles north of Oran and heard two detonations after 65 seconds and another after 5 minutes 50 seconds. However, only the ship of the convoy commodore, the British troop transport Strathallan was hit by one torpedo which struck on port side in the engine room. The explosion killed two engineer officers and two Indian crewmen on watch below, damaged the bulkhead separating the engine and boiler rooms and fractured a tank causing oil to enter the boiler room. The ship immediately developed a 15° list to port and the master ordered the nurses and troops to abandon ship in calm seas in the four motor boats, 16 lifeboats and rafts. All got away, except one lifeboat that had been damaged by the explosion and another that could not be launched due to the list. After it became clear that the ship would not sink fast, the evacuation was stopped and the troops ordered to the starboard side to help the stability. The about 1300 survivors in the boats and on rafts were picked up in the morning by the British destroyer HMS Verity (Lt. J.C. Rushbrooke, DSC, RN) and taken to Oran.
After two hours of work, at about 06.00 hours the British destroyer HMS Laforey (Capt. R.M.J. Hutton, DSO, RN) took the Strathallan in tow for Oran at a speed of 5-6 knots. Shortly after midday about 2000 survivors were transferred to the British destroyers HMS Panther (Lt.Cdr. Viscount Jocelyn, RN) and HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and Bar, RN) and taken to Oran. It appeared as tough the ship could be saved as the British rescue tug HMRT Restive (Lt. D.M. Richards, RNR) went alongside to assist the pumping, but at 13.15 hours oil came in contact with the hot boilers and the fumes exploded, sending flames up through the funnel. The ship was soon ablaze amidships so the master ordered the ship to be abandoned. All men went aboard the tug except a skeleton crew and were then transferred to HMS Laforey because HMS Restive continued to tow the burning ship slowly towards Oran for 14 hours, but she capsized to port and sank 12 miles off Oran in position 36º01'N, 00º33'W at about 04.00 hours on 22 December.
The Strathallan had 440 crew members, 26 gunners, 248 Queen Alexandra nurses and 4408 British and American troops (among them 296 officers, some possibly of the Headquarter staff of the 1st US Army) on board. Of this number, only 6 crew members and five troops were lost.
25 Apr 1943
The German submarine U-203 was sunk south of Cape Farewell, Greenland, in position 55º05'N, 42º25'W, by depth charges from Swordfish aircraft off the British escort carrier HMS Biter (Capt. E.M.C. Abel Smith, RN) (Sqdn 811/L) and by the British destroyer HMS Pathfinder (Cdr. E.A. Gibbs, DSO and 2 Bars, RN). (see map)
7 Nov 1943
HMS Pathfinder (Lt.Cdr. C.W. Malins, RN) and HMS Penn (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Swain, DSO, RN) sink the German submarine trap GA 45 with gunfire off Amorgos, Greece.
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