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Nevertheless, newspapers began to publish eyewitness accounts reflecting what had really happened, such as that of an Eyemouth fisherman who had assisted in the rescue, who confirmed rumours that a submarine had been responsible. The true story eventually came out, and the sinking of Pathfinder by a submarine made both sides in the conflict aware of the potential vulnerability of large ships to attack by submarines.

If further confirmation of the killing power of torpedoes fired from a submarine was needed, it came just a few weeks later. Early on the morning of 22 September 1914 in the North Sea, the three 12,000-ton Cressy-class cruisers Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy were sunk by a single submarine, U 9, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen.

U 9 of I Flotilla had been tasked to patrol and attack British shipping at Ostend. At about 0600 on 22 September, U 9 spotted the three patrolling British cruisers and closed on her first target, Aboukir. U 9 then fired a torpedo from about 500 metres, which struck the British cruiser on the starboard side, flooding the engine room and causing the ship to slew to a stop.