Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey III ON 777

Career
Owner:	Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
Builder:	Groves and Guttridge Ltd, Isle of Wight
Official Number:	ON 777
Donor:	Legacy of Henry Francis Bailey, Brockenhurst, Surrey.
Station	Cromer
Cost:	£7,307 14s 0d
Christened:	27th August 1937
In service:	1935
Fate:	On display at the Henry Blogg Museum in Cromer
General characteristics
Type:	Watson Cabin motor
Tonnage:	18.78 gross tonnage
Length:	31 ft 9 in (9.68 m) overall
Draught:	9 ft 5 in (2.87 m)
Installed power:	Two Weyburn CE4 four-cylinder Diesel engines of 40 BHP (30 kW)
Speed:	8 knots (15 km/h)
Complement:	12 crew plus 95 rescues

H F Bailey III (ON. 777) is the most famous Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat to have served from Cromer, because she was used by Coxswain Henry Blogg to perform many of his most famous lifesaving exploits. The lifeboat was on station for the ten years between 1935 and 1945.^[1] She is now on the British National Register of Historic Ships^[2] and has been preserved in the RNLI Henry Blogg Lifeboat Museum in Cromer ^[3].

From 1923 to the end of the Second World War in 1945 the Cromer station had four motor-powered lifeboats all called H F Bailey after the donor, Mr Henry Francis Bailey a London merchant who had been born in Brockenhurst, Norfolk and had died in 1916.^[4]

Construction

H F Bailey was built at the yard of Groves and Guttridge Ltd on the Isle of Wight. Her hull is constructed using double diagonal planking of Honduras Mahogany on a framework of Teak ribs and beams with the stem and stern posts and her keel of English Oak. The stern and stem posts are grown to the required shape to give the lifeboat its strength and sturdiness. She is 46 feet (14 m) long and 12 feet 9 inches (3.89 m) wide. The hull is divided into seven watertight compartments, of which the engine room is one. The hull is fitted with 142 mahogany air cases, all individually made to fit into its allocated position in the hull. Her equipment included the latest innovations of the time which included a line throwing gun and an electrically powered searchlight.^[5]

FURTHER USE: RNLB HF Bailey went on to serve Helvick Head Lifeboat Station in Co Waterford Republic of Ireland Until 1969 when the station was closed. Helvick lifeboat station remained closed until 1994 when it was reopened by the RNLI. The Lifeboat stationed here today is an Atlantic 75 and provides cover in the area Between Youghal and Tramore Lifeboat Stations.

Rescues and service

Rescues by H F Bailey III (ON 777)
Date	Casualty	Lives Saved
1936
March 26	Steamship Boree of Caen, landed 7 from steamship Cadeuceus
April 2	Fishing boat Little Madge of Sheringham, in tow of Lifeboat J C Madge of Sheringham and fishing boats John Roberts and White Rose of Cromer, stood by boats
April 20	Barge Will Everard of London, stood by vessel
August 7–11	Steamship San Francisco of Le Havre, rendered assistance
November 16–18	Steamship Nesttun of Tvedestrand, rendered assistance
November 18	Steam drifter Pitagaveny of Banff, saved	10
November 19	Steamship Yew Forest of Glasgow, took out a doctor
November 19	Steamship Lindisfarne of Newcastle on Tyne, rendered assistance
1937
November 9	Spritsail barge Hibernia of London	3
1938
February 10	Fishing boat 'Urgent of Cromer, stood by boat
May 30	Fishing boat G V H of Great Yarmouth, saved boat	2
August 7	Motor vessel John M of London, stood by vessel
November 2	Steamship Cantabria of Santander, saved	5
December 27	Steamship Otto H of Pori, rendered assistance
1939
June 18	Rowing boat of Cromer, Landed 5
October 9	Steamship Mount Ida of Piraeus, saved	29
December 1	Steamship Realf of Moss, Landed 32 and 10 navel ratings fron Santa Gata
December 8	Steamship Corea of Goole, saved	7
December 12	Steamship Corbrook of London, stood by vessel
December 21	Motor vessel Dosinia of London, assisted to save vessel	51
1940
January 9	Steamship Upminster of London, stood by vessel
January 11	Steamship Traviata of Genoa, landed 30 and saved	1
January 11	HMT Holyrood, gave help
January 12	Light Vessel No 58, saved a ships boat	3
January 18	Steamship Asteria of Piraeus, saved	11
January 18	Light vessel No 58, saved a ships boat	4
January 30	Steam trawler Pelton of Grimsby, gave help
August 27	Aircraft, Salvaged wreckage and gear
October 3	MV Actuosity of London, saved	8
November 15	HMT Dungeness, saved	11
November 25	HMT Dungeness,, salvaged gear
December 7	Steamship Royston of Newcastle on Tyne, stood by
December 12	Steamship Royston of Newcastle on Tyne, gave help
1941
January 15	Steamship Lieutenant Robert Mory of Belfast, landed 19 and gave help||
January 25	Steamship Meriones of Liverpool, saved	101
March 8	Boat from steamship Corduff of London, saved	13
March 8	Steamship Kenton of Newcastle, saved two boats
March 13	Steamship Essex Lance of London, gave help
March 14	Steamship Essex Lance of London, gave help
March 26	Steamship Kentwood of London, stood by
July 24	Aircraft, saved dinghy and picked up a body
August 6	(CONVOY FS 559) Steamship Oxshott of London, saved	16
August 6	(CONVOY FS 559) Steamship SS Gallois of Rouen, saved	31
August 6	(CONVOY FS 559) Steamship Deerwood of London, saved	19
August 6	(CONVOY FS 559) Steamship Betty Hindley , saved	22
September 15	Motor vessel Pontfield' of Newcastle, gave help
September 23	Steamship J B Paddon of London, landed an injured man
Between Sept 17 – Nov 6	Steamship Teddington of London, gave help on 22 occasions
October 16	British aircraft, landed a body
October 26	Steamship English Trader of London, saved	44
1942
January 29	Aeroplane dinghy seven miles north of Cley next the Sea, saved	1
February 2	Motor vessel Sedulity of London, landed an injured man
March 15	HMS Vortigern, picked up 11 bodies after Torpedo attack
April 11	British aeroplane, landed 6
May 25	Yacht Betty of Gorleston, gave help
July 20	Aeroplane, gave help
November 18	Motor fishing boat Silver Queen of Lowestoft, saved vessel	2
1943
March 12	Barrage balloon, salvaged balloon
July 26	Wellington Bomber aeroplane, saved	5
1944
June 20	Aeroplane, salvaged wreckage
July 29	Aeroplane, salvaged gear
December 7–10	Steamship Samnethy of London, saved
1945
February 4	Motor vessel Valder of Hartlepool, gave help	Gallery The H F Bailey at sea The wheel house See also Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey ON 694 References ^ Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, Appendix 1 Lifeboat Summary. ^ http://nationalhistoricships.org.uk/index.cfm/event/getVessel/vref/1446 ^ http://www.cromerlifeboats.org.uk/07/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=142&Itemid=46 ^ Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, page 54. ^ Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, Two New Lifeboats, page 73. Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, Leach, Nicholas & Russell, Paul, Pub: Tempus Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0-7524-3197-8. Further reading The History of Cromer Lifeboats and Crew; H.F. Bailey 777 1935 - 1945 Cromer, Kitty Lee, 1991, ISBN 0951853007