F. S. Bell 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 August
HMS Arrow (1796) for his part in the action. "Arrow" was also involved in the wreck and attempted salvage of HMS "Lutine", which sank on 9 October 1799 carrying a large cargo of gold. In November 1799 William Bolton replaced Portlock in command of "Arrow". On 25 July 1800 was part of a squadron that also included , , "Arrow", and the hired armed lugger "Nile". The squadron encountered the Danish frigate HDMS "Freja", which was escorting a convoy of two ships, two brigs and two galliots. Captain Baker of "Nemesis" hailed "Freja" and said that he would send a boat to board