HMS Seahorse was designed and built by Laird Brothers at Birkenhead[note 1] for the Royal Navy as a fast deep-sea tug, suitable for handling their new classes of ironclad warship.

[1][7] Based at Portsmouth, as well as a fleet tug, Seahorse served in a variety of roles, including survey ship,[9] and was often described as a gunboat or "special service vessel".

[10][11] During the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882 Seahorse was additionally equipped with gatling guns and stationed at Port Said for towing and patrol duties in the Suez Canal.

[12][13] Amongst her salvage jobs was the battleship HMS Howe, which stranded on a shoal off Ferrol, Spain in November 1892 and could be refloated only five months later.

[1] On 1 May 1920 Seahorse was disposed of by the Admiralty to Crichton Thompson & Co Ltd, and resold to Arsenio Sanjurjo Igual of Santander, Spain, where she was renamed Chita.