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Fishing boats from the port of Eyemouth were first to arrive at the scene of the disaster, only to find an expanse of sea that was littered with the scattered debris of a ship’s passing and a slick of fuel oil. Clothing, bodies and parts of bodies floated on the surface amidst the debris.

In the distance, the two-funnel 350-ton destroyer HMS Stag and the 465-ton torpedo boat destroyer HMS Express both observed the plume of smoke from the explosion – and each capable of making 30 knots, they turned to steam for the scene. It is said that as one of the destroyers arrived on scene it had an engine problem, which turned out to have been caused by a dismembered leg in a sea boot blocking a seawater intake.

There were only 18 confirmed survivors from Pathfinder’s crew.

At first, the British authorities attempted to cover up the true cause of the sinking, fearing to reveal just how vulnerable to torpedo attack British warships were. The loss of Pathfinder was therefore at first reported as being caused by a mine, the Admiralty having already reached an agreement with the Press Bureau that allowed for wartime censoring of all reports in the national interest.