HMS Seabear (1918)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Seabear.

Sister ship Scotsman
History
United Kingdom
Name	Seabear
Ordered	June 1917
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	477
Laid down	13 December 1917
Launched	6 July 1918
Completed	7 September 1918
Out of service	5 February 1931
Fate	Sold to be broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class destroyer
Displacement	1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal 1,221 long tons (1,241 t) deep load
Length	265 ft (80.8 m) p.p.
Beam	26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
Draught	9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) mean
Propulsion	3 Yarrow boilers 2 geared Brown-Curtis steam turbines, 27,000 shp
Speed	36 knots (41.4 mph; 66.7 km/h)
Range	2,750 nmi (5,090 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h)
Complement	90
Armament	3 × single QF 4 in (102 mm) Mark IV guns 1 × single 2-pdr 40 mm (2 in) Mk. II AA gun 2 × twin 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 × depth charge chutes

HMS Seabear was an S-class destroyer that served with the Royal Navy during the Russian Civil War. The S class was a development of the previous R class, with minor differences, constructed at the end of the First World War. Seabear was launched in December 1917 and joined the Grand Fleet for the last few months of the War. The destroyer then joined the British campaign in the Baltic, sailing as part of a detachment of ten destroyers under the command of Admiral Walter Cowan in March 1919. Seabear sailed to Tallinn in support of the Estonian War of Independence the following month. On returning to the UK, the ship was placed in reserve. The London Naval Treaty limited to number of destroyers that the Royal Navy could operate and, as new ships entered service, older vessels were retired. Seabear was sold in February 1931 and broken up.

Design and development

Main article: S-class destroyer

Seabear was one of 33 Admiralty S class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in June 1917 as part of the Twelfth War Construction Programme. The design was a development of the R class introduced as a cheaper and faster alternative to the V and W class.^[1][2] Differences with the R class were minor, such as having the searchlight moved further aft.^[3]

Seabear had an overall length of 276 ft (84 m) and a length of 265 ft (81 m) between perpendiculars. Beam was 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m) and draught 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m). Displacement was 1,075 long tons (1,092 t) normal and 1,221 long tons (1,241 t) deep load. Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) at normal loading and 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) at deep load. Two funnels were fitted. A full load of 301 long tons (306 t) of fuel oil was carried, which gave a design range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).^[4]

Armament consisted of three QF 4 in (102 mm) Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline.^[5] One was mounted raised on the forecastle, one on a platform between the funnels and one aft.^[6] The ship also mounted a single 2-pounder 40 mm (1.6 in) "pom-pom" anti-aircraft gun for air defence. Four 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes were carried in two twin rotating mounts aft.^[5] Four depth charge chutes were also fitted aft. Typically ten depth charges were carried.^[7] The ship was designed to mount two additional 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes either side of the superstructure but this required the forecastle plating to be cut away, making the vessel very wet, so they were removed.^[3] The weight saved enabled the heavier Mark V 21-inch torpedo to be carried.^[1] Fire control included a training-only director, single Dumaresq and a Vickers range clock.^[8] The ship had a complement of 90 officers and ratings.^[9]

Construction and career

Laid down on 13 December 1917 by John Brown & Company in Clydebank with the yard number 477, Seabear was launched on 6 July the following year and completed on 7 September shortly before the Armistice that ended the First World War.^[10] The vessel was the first with the name to serve in the Royal Navy, and one of nine of the class to be built by the yard.^[11][9] Seabear joined the Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet.^[12]

Although the war had finished, the escalating civil war in Russia continued. The Royal Navy decided to send a small contingent of warships into the Baltic Sea to monitor the situation.^[13] The fleet was tasked with not simply helping to help organise the evacuation of German forces from the country but also supporting the Estonian War of Independence.^[14] Seabear was sent as part of a detachment of ten destroyers under the command of Admiral Walter Cowan in Caledon. The flotilla left on 25 March 1919, sailing initially to Oslo, Norway, and Copenhagen, Denmark.^[15] Remaining there until 26 April, Seabear then departed for Tallinn to support the Estonian armed forces.^[16] The vessel did not remain long and had left the theatre within the month.^[17]

At the same time, the Royal Navy was returning to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.^[18] Seabear joined the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla based at Rosyth and was placed in reserve.^[19] For a short time during the following year, the destroyer was back in active duty attached to the Fourth Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet.^[20] However, by 1921 Seabear was back in reserve, based at Devonport.^[21] The vessel made a visit to Pembroke and, then on 17 January 1925, the port of Portsmouth at the same time as new squash courts had been authorised for the naval base.^[22]

On 22 April 1930, the London Naval Treaty was signed, which limited total destroyer tonnage that the Royal Navy could operate. As the force was looking to introduce more modern destroyers, some of the older vessels needed to be retired.^[23] Having returned to Rosyth the destroyer was dispatched to Sheerness on 21 October.^[24] This proved to be one of the last sailings that the destroyer undertook. On 5 February 1931, Seabear was sold to Thos. W. Ward and broken up at Grays.^[25]

Pennant numbers

Penant numbers

Pennant number	Date
G29	November 1918[26]
F48	January 1919[27]
H23	January 1922[28]

References

Citations

1. Preston 1985, p. 85.
2. Johnston 2014, p. 187.
3. March 1966, p. 221.
4. Friedman 2009, p. 297.
5. Preston 1985, p. 84.
6. Friedman 2009, p. 163.
7. Friedman 2009, p. 236.
8. Friedman 2009, p. 146.
9. Parkes & Prendergast 1969, p. 107.
10. Johnston 2014, pp. 190.
11. Manning & Walker 1959, p. 395.
12. "Destroyer Flotillas of the Grand Fleet". Supplement to the Monthly Navy List: 12. October 1918. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via National Library of Scotland.
13. Head 2009, p. 136.
14. Head 2009, p. 147.
15. Cunningham 1951, p. 99.
16. Dunn 2020, p. 96.
17. Dunn 2020, p. 101.
18. Moretz 2002, p. 79.
19. "V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases". The Navy List: 709. October 1919. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via National Library of Scotland.
20. "I Atlantic Fleet". The Navy List: 702. January 1920. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via National Library of Scotland.
21. "V Vessels in Reserve at Home Ports and Other Bases". The Navy List: 709. January 1921. Retrieved 21 May 2023 – via National Library of Scotland.
22. "Naval and Military: Movement of Ships". The Times. No. 43864. 20 January 1925. p. 21.
23. Friedman 2009, p. 211.
24. "Naval and Military: Movement of Ships". The Times. No. 45660. 3 November 1930. p. 31.
25. Colledge & Warlow 2006, p. 314.
26. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 63.
27. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 49.
28. Bush & Warlow 2021, p. 71.

Bibliography

• Bush, Steve; Warlow, Ben (2021). Pendant Numbers of the Royal Navy: A Complete History of the Allocation of Pendant Numbers to Royal Navy Warships & Auxiliaries. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-526793-78-2.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: a complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th century to the present. London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-85367-566-9.
• Cunningham, Andrew Browne (1951). A Sailor's Odyssey: The Autobiography of Admiral of the Fleet, Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope. London: Hutchinson. OCLC 2307923.
• Dunn, Steve (2020). Battle in the Baltic: The Royal Navy and the Fight to save Estonia & Latvia 1918-20. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-52674-273-5.
• Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the First World War. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
• Head, Michael (2009). "The Baltic Campaign, 1918-1920: Part I". Warship International. 46 (2): 134–150.
• Johnston, Ian (2014). A Shipyard at War: Unseen Photographs of John Brown & Co. Ltd, Clydebank, 1914-18. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-216-5.
• Manning, Thomas Davys; Walker, Charles Frederick (1959). British Warship Names. London: Putnam. OCLC 780274698.
• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
• Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.