What is the ship?
I have no idea, the photos were interesting but for some reason I did not pursue the details.
The artist is Tactica Dean, the ship image is 'So They Sank Her' from Russian Ending but I've found no info on the ship. I think that she doesn't include info in her work, just an image.
https://www.fotomuseum.ch/en/explore..._they_sank_her
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacita_Dean
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Well done Dave! Your google kung foo is very strong!
Found a site hosting 20 images of Dean's "Russian Ending" right here: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks...n-ending-75361
Each of the images has some notes/description associated with it. Pretty cool.
The ship in the image is HMS Gladiator, a protected cruiser of the Arrogant-class.
She was sunk after a collision off the Isle of Wight in April 1908.
Very interesting discoveries, thank you all!
Very well done guys. I thought it was a cruiser judging from the shape of the stern but never would have come up with the name.
Did the museum display give any background on the two-basket balloon?
No, but I have seen it before . . .
No. And the artist's notes (made on the image itself, in the style of film directions) tend towards the fanciful. Her notes for the wreck of HMS Gladiator describes the aftermath of a mutiny which never happened, while her notes for this one identifies this as [a] "moment of tension before [the] balloon blows up."
This might fall into the “more information than we really needed,” but here goes…
HMS Gladiator was a Royal Navy protected cruiser launched on 8 December 1896 at Portsmouth, England. Rated at 5,750 long tons (5,840 t) displacement, and with a crew of 250 officers and men, she was the third of four in the Arrogant class. Ironically enough, these vessels were originally described as “Fleet Rams” and were designed to operate with the main battle fleet, finishing off crippled ships by ramming.
During the height of a late snowstorm off the Isle of Wight on 25 April 1908, in visibility that had deteriorating to less than 800 yards (730 m), Gladiator struck (or was struck by) the outbound American steamer SS Saint Paul. Gladiator quickly foundered and capsized, permitting the launching of only four boats (two of which quickly sank). Though St Paul fared better, she was unable to render assistance due to the blizzard. Luckily for Gladiator, she grounded on Sconce Point (near Yarmouth), only 250 yards from shore and within sight of a Royal Engineers garrison at Fort Victoria.
Gladiator suffered the loss of one officer and 28 (or 26, depending upon accounts) men, though only three bodies were recovered. She remained in place for five months until salvage efforts were able to right her and she was sold for scrap (for less than the coast of salvaging her).
Originally ruled the fault of St Paul's master, an Admiralty court reversed this finding when a lawsuit was brought against her owners.
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Launched in 1895 (weeks late, because she refused to budge on the first attempt), the SS St. Paul was a 14,910-ton steel passenger liner, chartered for United States Navy service as an auxiliary cruiser. She was commissioned on 20 April 1898, just in time for service in the Spanish-American War which saw her capture the British collier Restormel on her way to Cuba and take part in the 2nd Battle of San Juan (an action which saw her score a number of hits on the Spanish torpedo boat destroyer Terror, driving the ship back to port). She spent the rest of her wartime service as a transport, landing troops at locations in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
After returning to mercantile service, she took part in what many consider her most noteworthy action: it was St Paul that – on 15 November 1899 – became the first ocean liner to report her arrival to Great Britain by wireless (Marconi had installed his equipment during the passage from New York).
The new century did not begin well for St Paul, as she struck a submerged object while crossing the Atlantic, sheering off her starboard propeller and burning out the starboard engine. Never completely right despite significant repairs, she returned to largely unremarkable service (mostly 2nd class and steerage passengers) until her collision with Gladiator on 25 April 1908.
Here’s where things get a little interesting…
Returned to War Department service in 1917, she made a dozen of trips between New York and Liverpool as USS Knoxville before undergoing refit to serve as a troopship. It was during this overhaul that on 28 April 1918, almost exactly 10 years after the Gladiator incident and without warning, St Paul capsized in the North River while being towed to her berth.
Though salvaged some months later and returned to her owner, she was severely damaged in 1920 by a fire during refit for return to commercial service and never sailed again.
Anyone superstitious? Cursed ship…?
Or possibly only semi-competent owner/operators.
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