After her launch on 31st May, 1889 from the Chatham Dockyard, HMS Seagull was finally completed in January 1891 and ready for service. She was a Sharpshooter Class gun boat with dimensions of 230.0′ x 27.0′ x 10.5′ and by the time war broke out, was commanded by Lieutenant Raymond H Dunn RN. She sailed with a compliment of 90 aboard and her twin vertical triple expansion engines pushed her along at a steady nineteen knots. She had 2 @ 4.7” guns, 4 @ 3 pounders and a main armament of 5 @ 14” torpedo tubes. In 1909 she was converted to a minesweeper so some of her original armament may have been substituted with minesweeping equipment.
HMS Seagull – as built.
The details of her loss are vague due to wartime restrictions and incomplete records held in Kew Public Records Office. However it is known that she was lost in a collision with a merchant vessel, the SS Corrib on 30th September 1918. The Seagull was outward bound at the time and collided with the steamer which was heading up river for Glasgow in ballast. Strangely, the Corrib was not badly damaged in the head on collision and after all survivors had been picked up, continued on her voyage to Glasgow.
Fifty three lives were lost in the disaster and twenty one survivors reported. The exact location of her loss was initially unclear as two different reports indicate that the collision took place off Wemyss Bay and two miles south of the Cloch boom.
The Wreck Today
The wreck lying in seabed depths of 96 metres in position 55° 54.329′ N, 04° 55.271’W (GPS) has been confirmed as the wreck of HMS Seagull, following a dive undertaken in late summer 2000 by a team of divers undertaking work-up dives prior to their dive on HMS Dasher. The wreck lies oriented 120°/300°, is approximately 65 metres long and stands some 4-5 metres from seabed. The wreck was identified from the shape of the bow and forward deck gun.
Downscan image of wreck.
