HMS Seabear (1918)

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]

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 the amount of 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]