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 Captain (1743) HMS Captain (1743) HMS "Captain" was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built according to the 1733 proposals of the 1719 Establishment at Woolwich Dockyard, and launched on 14 April 1743. In 1760, "Captain" was reduced to a 64-gun ship. Then in 1777 she was converted to serve as a storeship and renamed "Buffalo". Although a storeship, "Buffalo" shared, with , and , in the proceeds from 's capture of the 12-gun French privateer "Comte de Maurepas", on 3 August 1780. In 1781, with 60 guns back on board, although she only had 18