HMS Gladiator (1896)
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Gladiator |
| Builder | Portsmouth Dockyard[1] |
| Laid down | January 1896[1] |
| Launched | 18 December 1896[1] |
| Completed | April 1899[1] |
| Fate | Capsized after collision, 25 April 1908[1] Scrapped October 1908[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Arrogant-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 5,750 tons |
| Length | 342 ft (104 m) |
| Beam | 57 ft 6 in (17.53 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 480 |
| Armament |
|
| Armour | Deck : 3 in (76 mm) |
HMS Gladiator was a second class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched on 8 December 1896 at Portsmouth, England.[3] She was of the Arrogant class rated at 5,750 long tons (5,840 t) displacement, with a crew of 250 officers and men. She had three distinctive stacks amidships with a conspicuous bridge well forward.
Service history
Gladiator was ordered to be commissioned at Portsmouth on 15 February 1900 to take out relief crews for the Australia Station.[4]
She served with the
Collision
During a late
Lookouts on each vessel saw the approaching danger off
The glancing blow ripped open the sides of both ships. The British warship foundered at once, or beached off Black Rock Buoy, off the
Gladiator settled on her starboard side in shallow water close to Fort Victoria. Salvage work began almost at once, but it took over five months to right the ship, re-float it and tow it back to Portsmouth.[10] The operation cost £64,000 and a further £500 to make the ship seaworthy, but as the ship's design was considered obsolete, she was scrapped rather than repaired. Gladiator was sold to a Dutch firm for only £15,000.[2]
A court of inquiry reprimanded Captain Lumsden in July 1908, but held Saint Paul responsible for the collision. However, when the Admiralty sued the owners of the liner, a high court held Gladiator responsible.[2]
Later fame
A postcard of the capsized vessel was subsequently used by the artist Tacita Dean as the basis for her artwork So They Sunk Her, part of a portfolio of twenty black and white photogravures with etching collectively entitled The Russian Ending. The artwork ascribes the cause of the incident to a fictitious mutiny. A copy of the artwork is held by the Tate in London.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d e "HMS Gladiator". battleships-cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ a b c Cantwell, p. 41
- ^ The Times (London), Wednesday, 9 December 1896, p.8
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36045. London. 22 January 1900. p. 6.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36801. London. 23 June 1902. p. 6.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36857. London. 27 August 1902. p. 4.
- ^ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times. No. 36881. London. 24 September 1902. p. 4.
- ^ IoW Council History of Fort Victoria
- ^ "HMS Gladiator (+1908)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ Cantwell, p. 40
- ^ Dean, Tacita (2001). "So They Sank Her!". Tate. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
Bibliography
- Cantwell, Anthony (1993). Fort Victoria; A History. 1855-1969. Isle of Wight Countryside Service. ISBN 0-9521370-0-3.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
External links
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1908 | |
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