Hello,

What's the final word regarding the loss of this vessel. Many sources claims she was sunk by the italian submarine Galvani on 22.6.1940 while others claim that she was destroyed by an accidental explosion on the same date. Here are examples of the two:

[uboat.net]

"HMIS Pathan (Lt.Cdr. Karl Durston, RIN) was torpedoed on the 22nd by the Italian submarine Luigi Galvani.
Pathan sank the following day in position 18°56'N, 72°45'E.
The loss of Pathan had long been attributed to an internal explosion, but testimony from repatriated survivors of Galvani leaves no doubt that the vessel was indeed sunk by a torpedo."

[www.naval-history.net]

"Indian patrol vessel PATHAN (Lt Cdr K. Durston RIN) was badly damaged at 0100/23rd and sank the next day off Bombay at 18-56N, 72-45E.

Although contemporary sources stated that PATHAN was a victim of an enemy mine or torpedo from Italian submarine GALVANI, sloop PATHAN was lost through the explosion of her own depth charges."


Personally I find it a bit difficult to believe that Pathan was indeed torpedoed by Galvani since Pathan was lost on 22.6.1940 off Bombay while the alleged attacker was sunk the next day in the Gulf of Oman, position given as 25-55N, 56-55E. Was it really possible for the submarine to cross that distance in roughly one day?

Any comments?

Best regards,

Jan-Olof



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2010 09:45AM by Jan-Olof.