F. S. Bell used. F. S. Bell Captain Frederick Secker Bell CB (17 August 1897 – 23 November 1973) of the Royal Navy was the commander of during the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939. He was educated at Matfield Grange, a prep school in Kent, and then at the Royal Naval Colleges of Osborne and Dartmouth. He served afloat in the battleship at the Battle of Jutland, as First Lieutenant of the destroyer in the Reserve Fleet at Devonport, 1923–25, and as executive officer of from 1935–38 and was promoted captain on 31 December 1938. He took command of in
HMS Active (1799) HMS Active (1799) HMS "Active" was a Royal Navy fifth-rate frigate launched on 14 December 1799 at Chatham Dockyard. Sir John Henslow designed her as an improvement on the "Artois"-class frigates. She served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, capturing numerous enemy vessels. Her crews participated in one campaign and three actions that would later qualify them for the Naval General Service Medal. She returned to service after the wars and finally was broken up in 1860. "Active" was commissioned under Captain Charles Davers in December 1799 and convoyed East Indiamen in 1800. She sailed from Portsmouth