HMS Seagull was a , and the first Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 ship to be built entirely without rivets. She was completed on 30th March 1938.

During the Second World War she helped escort 21 Arctic convoys

Arctic convoys of World War II

The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...

, and participated in Operation Neptune

Operation Neptune

The Normandy landings, codenamed Operation Neptune, were the landing operations of the Allied invasion of Normandy, in Operation Overlord, during World War II. The landings commenced on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 , beginning at 6:30 AM British Double Summer Time...

. She was also involved in the accidental sinking the Polish submarine ORP Jastrząb

ORP Jastrzab

ORP Jastrząb was an old Holland-type S-class submarine, originally of the United States Navy, in Polish service between 1941 and 1942, when she was lost to friendly fire....

, along with HNoMS St Albans

USS Thomas (DD-182)

The first USS Thomas was a Wickes class destroyer in the United States Navy following World War I. She was later transferred to the Royal Navy as HMS St Albans , as a Town class destroyer, but spent most of the war in the exiled Royal Norwegian Navy, before transferred to the Soviet Navy as...

, during the passage of Arctic convoy PQ 15. Five crewmen were killed.
A court of Enquiry found that Jastrząb was 100 miles out of position, in an area where U-boats were expected to operate, and no blame could be attached to either commander.
However, other sources maintain the convoy changed its course and entered Jastrząb's patrol sector. Also that the Allied ships ignored identification marks, while on surface, and that Seagull's commander was later found guilty by the Admiralty.
These accounts are not reconcilable.

In late 1945 she was converted in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 to a Survey Ship. Until 1950 she operated in home waters, after which she was paid off into the reserve

Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...

. She became the naval drill ship at Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

in 1955 before being scrapped by Demmelweek and Redding in Plymouth in 1956.