HMS ''Seagull'' was a , and the first all-welded

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

ship, built entirely without

rivets A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed end is called the ''sh ...

. 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. She was adopted by the civil community of

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Hampshire after a successful Warship Week National Savings campaign in February 1942 During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

she helped escort 21 Arctic convoys, and participated in Operation Neptune. She was also involved in the accidental sinking of the Polish submarine ORP ''Jastrząb'', along with HNoMS ''St Albans'', during the passage of Arctic Convoy PQ 15. Five crewmen were killed. A court of Enquiry found that ''Jastrząb'' was out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander. 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. These accounts are not reconcilable. In late 1945 she was converted in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

to a Survey Ship. Until 1950 she operated in home waters, after which she was paid off into the reserve. She became the naval drill ship at

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

in 1955 before being scrapped by Demmelweek and Redding in Plymouth in 1956.Halcyon-Class.co.uk HMS Seagull Page
/ref>

References

Halcyon-class minesweepers Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1937 ships World War II minesweepers of the United Kingdom Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom {{UK-minesweeper-stub