Читать книгу Deeper into the Darkness онлайн

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The attempt to comb the track of the torpedo however failed – she was most likely unable to manoeuvre quickly enough given her initial slow speed of 5 knots. The torpedo closed at speed and then hit her just forward of the bridge. It is suspected that the torpedo blast may have ignited the silk bags of cordite propellant charges for Pathfinder’s main battery guns and caused a flash, because there followed a second, massive explosion within the fore section of the ship, as the forward magazine blew up. Any crew below decks in the forward section were killed instantly. The foremast and No 1 funnel collapsed and toppled over the side.

The bow section of the ship, on the other side of the explosion, sheared off and sank like a stone. Pathfinder gave a heavy lurch forward and immediately took on an angle down by the bow of about 40 degrees. Water came swirling up the ship and quickly began to envelop the bridge and searchlight platform. The command was given to abandon ship, but the stricken ship was going down by the bow so quickly that there was no time to swing out the lifeboats.