HMS Gladiator (1896)

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For other ships of the same name, see HMS Gladiator.

HMS Gladiator was a second class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in December 1896 at Portsmouth, England.

She was an Arrogant-class cruiser rated at 5,750 tons displacement, with a crew of 250 officers and men. She had three distinctive stacks amidships with a conspicuous bridge well forward.

During a late snowstorm off the Isle of Wight on 25 April 1908 Gladiator was heading into port when she struck the outbound American steamer SS Saint Paul. Visibility was down to eight hundred yards, but the strong tides and gale-force winds required both ships to maintain high speeds to maintain steerage.

Lookouts on each vessel saw the approaching danger off Point Hurst. The American ship attempted to pass to the port side, the standard procedure in such a situation. Lacking room for the maneuver, Captain William Lumsden choose to turn the opposite direction, ensuring a collision.

Both ships attempted to slow, but both were exceptionally heavy (the Saint Paul was built for conversion in wartime to a cruiser). They hit at about three knots. The Saint Paul struck Gladiator just after her engine room.

The glancing blow ripped open the sides of both ships. The British warship foundered at once, while the American was able to remain afloat and launch lifeboats. A total of 128 sailors were lost. Only three bodies were recovered.

Gladiator then settled into shallow water and was salvaged five months later. The hulk was deemed un-repairable and she was struck off the lists of duty and sold for her scrap value. A court of inquiry reprimanded Captain Lumsden in July of 1908.