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 Alcmene (1794) to board her before her captain could throw overboard any dispatches she was carrying for Napoleon Bonaparte, then in Egypt. Hope was unsuccessful, but two seamen from "Alcmene"s crew jumped overboard and were able to retrieve the dispatches before they sank. One of "Alcemene"s boats was able to rescue the intrepid seamen. The Royal Navy took the gunboat into service as HMS "Legere". In 1799, "Alcmene" helped Horatio Nelson to evacuate the Neapolitan Royal family from Naples ahead of the advancing French armies. She then returned to the Lisbon station. "Alcmene" captured the privateer on 26 June 1799. "Courageaux" had