If you think snow in April is unusual, think again.  For it was during a snowstorm on the afternoon of 25 April 1908 that the lookout on HMS Gladiator suddenly spotted an oncoming vessel near Hurst Point, close to Hurst Castle.  For the Gladiator, it was too late.

The 5,750-ton Gladiator was a Royal Navy warship, an Arrogant second-class cruiser.  Built in Portsmouth, launched in 1896 and commissioned in April 1899, she had seen service in Australia and the Mediterranean under the command of no less than six captains.

It was while she was transporting 250 sailors from Portland to her home port under Captain William Lumsden that disaster struck.  Looming out of the driving snow was a huge American passenger liner, the 11,612-ton SS Saint Paul, en route from Southampton to Cherbourg.  Although her lookout, too, had spotted the approaching danger, movement of the two heavy vessels in the narrow channel was hampered by gale-force winds and strong tides.

In line with marine etiquette, each ship should have passed to the port side.  In the confusion, however, with signals restricted by poor visibility and little room for manoeuvre, the two ships collided. Both sustained serious damage, but while the Saint Paul managed to stay afloat, the massive gash in the side of the Gladiator – 40ft by 20ft – proved too much. As her captain tried to steer her onto a sandbank, she capsized just off Fort Victoria on the Isle of Wight.

Along with lifeboats from the Saint Paul, two whalers were launched from the Gladiator. One, bearing personnel from the ship’s sick bay, made it to the beach; the second attained Yarmouth harbour. As the drama unfolded in front of them, members of the Royal Engineers based at the fort went to the rescue of those who had jumped or fallen into the sea, while more boats arrived to help from Portsmouth.  In spite of their efforts, 27 men lost their lives that day, with only three bodies recovered.

In the ensuing court proceedings, Captain Lumsden was reprimanded, but the Saint Paul was held responsible for the collision. That judgement was later overturned in the high court, which held that the Gladiator was at fault.

As for the two ships, more than £60,000 (approaching £6 million in 2023) was spent on salvaging the Gladiator before the Admiralty decided to sell her for scrap – for just £15,000. The Saint Paul limped on, her chequered career combining naval and civilian duties before – in a bizarrely timed coincidence – she capsized exactly ten years later, on 25 April 1918.  Although the ship was soon righted, within five years she too was destined for the scrapyard.