View source for HMS Seagull (J85)

{{short description|Minesweeper of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Seagull}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Seagull 1946 IWM FL 18854.jpg
|Ship caption=''Seagull'' in May 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name={{HMS|Seagull|J85|6}}
|Ship operator=[[Royal Navy]]
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|Ship builder= [[HMNB Devonport]]
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|Ship laid down=15 February 1937
|Ship launched=28 October 1937
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|Ship commissioned=30 May 1938
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|Ship fate=Scrapped in May/July 1956.
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class={{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper|1}}
|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|815|–|835|LT}}
* {{cvt|1310|–|1372|LT}}, full load
|Ship length={{cvt|245|ft|3|in|m}}
|Ship beam={{cvt|33|ft|6|in|m}}
|Ship draught={{cvt|9|ft}}
|Ship propulsion=Vertical triple-expansion, 2,000 ihp
|Ship speed = {{cvt|17|kn|mph+km/h|0}}
|Ship range={{cvt|7200|nmi|mi+km|-1}} at {{cvt|10|kn|mph+km/h}}
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|Ship complement=80
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|Ship armament=
* 2 × [[QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun|QF 4 in Mk.V (L/45 102 mm) guns]], single mounts HA Mk.III
* 4 × [[Vickers machine gun|QF 0.5-inch Mk.III (12.7 mm) Vickers machine guns]], quad mount HA Mk.I
* 8 × [[Lewis gun|.303-inch (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns]]
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'''HMS ''Seagull''''' was a {{sclass|Halcyon|minesweeper}}, and the first all-welded [[Royal Navy]] ship, built entirely without [[rivets]]. The design was ahead of its time, using longitudinal framing and flush butt joints in the hull plating. This gave a substantial improvement in costs and build time, the comparison being the half-sister ship built using rivetted construction on another slipway in the same dockyard. She was designed by Rowland Baker, the influential naval architect who worked on many naval vessels used in World War 2 and into the cold war. She was completed on 30 March 1938.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |last1=Brown |first1=David K |title=Baker, Sir Rowland (1908–1983), naval architect |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-64171 |date=2004 |access-date=14 September 2024 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/64171}}</ref>

She was adopted by the civil community of [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]], Hampshire after a successful [[Warship Week]] National Savings campaign in February 1942

During the [[Second World War]] she helped escort 21 [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic convoys]], and participated in [[Operation Neptune]]. She was also involved in the accidental sinking of the Polish submarine [[ORP Jastrząb|ORP ''Jastrząb'']], along with [[USS Thomas (DD-182)|HNoMS ''St Albans'']], during the passage of Arctic [[Convoy PQ 15]]. Five crewmen were killed. A court of Enquiry found that ''Jastrząb'' was {{cvt|100|nmi}} out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander.<ref>Kemp p47</ref><ref>Hague p35</ref> Other sources maintain the convoy changed course and entered ''Jastrząb's'' patrol sector. Also that the Allied ships ignored identification marks, while on the surface and that ''Seagull's'' commander was later found guilty by the Admiralty.<ref>Jerzy Pertek, ''Wielkie dni małej floty'', Poznań, 1976 (Polish language, no ISBN)</ref> These accounts are not reconcilable.

In late 1945 she was converted in [[Rotterdam]] to a Survey Ship. Until 1950 she operated in home waters, after which she was [[Ship commissioning#Ship decommissioning|paid off]] into the [[Royal Naval Reserve|reserve]]. She became the naval drill ship at [[Leith]] in 1955 before being scrapped by Demmelweek and Redding in Plymouth in 1956.<ref>[http://www.halcyon-class.co.uk/seagull/hms_seagull.htm Halcyon-Class.co.uk HMS Seagull Page]</ref>

==References==
<references />

{{Halcyon class minesweeper}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seagull (J85)}}
[[Category:Halcyon-class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Plymouth, Devon]]
[[Category:1937 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom]]


{{UK-minesweeper-stub}}