F. S. Bell Falkland Islands. The captain, eight officers and 79 members of the crew were given the Freedom of the City of Exeter on 29 February 1940, and were welcomed by a crowd of 50,000 cheering residents. The crew marched through the streets with fixed bayonets, carrying HMS "Exeter's" shell-torn White Ensign through the streets. Bell also commanded in 1945. He retired from the Navy owing to ill health on 8 January 1948. In the 1956 film "The Battle of the River Plate", Bell was played by John Gregson. During the film, Bell's nickname of 'Hookie', because of his distinctive nose, is
HMS Trompeuse (1799) HMS Trompeuse (1799) HMS "Trompeuse" was the French privateer "Mercure", captured in 1799. She foundered in the English Channel in 1800. British records on "Mercure" are ambiguous. French records are more informative. Two seminal British references declare that captured "Mercure" in May 1797. However, there is no letter in the "London Gazette" for "Melampus" capturing a "Mercure" in 1797, which by itself is not unusual, but two other sources, one of them a letter in the "London Gazette" by the captain of "Melampus", puts his capture of a "Mercure" in February 1799 (see below). Winfield has "Mercure" being named "Trompeuse"