Difference between revisions of "Lewis Bayly"

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Admiral SIR Lewis Bayly, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., C.V.O., Royal Navy (28 September, 1857 – 16 May, 1938) was an officer of the Royal Navy.

Early Life & Career

Bayly was born at Woolwich on 28 September, 1857, the third son of Captain Neville Bayly, of the Royal Horse Artillery, by his wife, Henrietta Charlotte, daughter of General Charles George Gordon, of the Royal Artillery, and great-great-nephew of Admiral Sir Richard Keats.

Bayly was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 10 August, 1881.^[1]

Bayly was promoted to the rank of Commander on 30 June, 1894.^[2]

Captain

On 31 December, 1899, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.^[3]

He was appointed to command the second class protected cruiser Talbot on 11 July, 1902,^[4] and the battleship Queen on 20 November, 1904.^[5]

On the occasion of the King's inspection of the Home Fleet Bayly was appointed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (C.V.O.) on 3 August, 1907.^[6]

On 22 March, 1908, Bayly was appointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp to King Edward VII, vice Walker.^[7]

Flag Rank

Bayly was promoted to the rank off Rear-Admiral on 2 December, 1908, vice Reynolds.^[8]

He was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Third Class, or Companion, in the Civil Division of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.) on 21 September, 1912.^[9]

On 1 January, 1914, he was appointed an Ordinary Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Military Division of the Order of the Bath (K.C.B.).^[10]

Upon learning of his appointment to take command of the First Battle Squadron in June 1914, Bayly wrote to First Lord Winston Churchill: "Keep the people across the North Sea quiet till July, then, as soon as you like."^[11]

Great War

On 14 September Bayly was confirmed in the rank of Vice-Admiral,^[12] and in December he was appointed to command the Channel Fleet (flag in the Lord Nelson).

Loss of the Formidable

During December the Sixth Battle Squadron had carried out gunnery practice off Portland. Upon assuming command of the Channel Fleet on 17 December Bayly decided that the Fifth Battle Squadron should do the same at the end of the month. The Admiralty gave its permission on 26 December, and at 10:00 on 30 December Bayly left Sheerness flying his flag in Lord Nelson with the battleships Agamemnon, Queen, Implacable, Prince of Wales, Venerable, London and Formidable, and the light cruisers Topaze and Diamond.^[13] At 1430 on the 30th the six escorting destroyers of the Harwich Force left the squadron at Folkestone. Throughout the 31st, Bayly's ships carried out "excercises and manœvres" within twenty-five miles of Portland Bill.^[14][15] In the evening the ships went into night cruising stations, the battleships in line ahead two cables apart (approximately twelve hundred feet). Formidable was the last battleship in line, with the light cruisers a mile astern of her.^[16] Per an Admiralty Fleet Order, at 19:00 Bayly ordered a 16-point alteration of course when abreast the Needles, consequently steaming Westward. Another 16-point turn was scheduled for 03:00 on 1 January.^[14] There was a Southerly wind increasing from Force 4 to 5. About 02:20 in the morning on New Year's Day, 1915, while the squadron was passing through a number of fishing craft, Formidable was struck by a torpedo on her starboard side abreast the fore funnel and was seen to haul out of line at 02:30. Forty-five minutes later the German submarine which had fired the torpedo, U-24, fired another torpedo into Formidable, which sank at about 04:45. Despite the best efforts of Topaze and Diamond, out of a complement of 780 men Formidable lost 35 officers and 512 men dead, including Captain Arthur N. Loxley.^[17]

After being severely censured by the Admiralty for his perceived mishandling of his squadron, Bayly asked for a Court-Martial, but this was refused. He was relieved in command of the Channel Fleet by Vice-Admiral Bethell on 17 January and was appointed President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich on 18 January. On the same day the Prime Minister, Herbert H. Asquith, wrote to Venetia Stanley: "Winston tells me that they have recalled Lewis Bayly from the command of the Channel Fleet as a consequence of his loss of 'Formidable', & have put Admiral Bethell in his place. It is rather disquieting, for Bayly was supposed to be almost the pick of our younger Admirals. Bethell, whom I used to see on the C.I.D., is to my thinking no flier. We really seem to have better reserves in the way of Commanders in the Army than in the Navy."^[18]

Lord Fisher wrote to Churchill on 23 January, 1915: "We have struck oil in Admiral [Robert Nelson] Ommanney. Oliver tells me he knows more abt handling a Fleet than anyone in the Navy! Why is he not in a Battle Squadron then? Put him in place of Warrender—Warrender to Greenwich—Bayly to Monitors—Jerram to Mines like Ommanney—let those ideas germinate!"^[19]

On 18 June Jellicoe wrote to Admiral Sir Henry B. Jackson, the new First Sea Lord, about combatting the submarine menace: "I suggest Bayly for the general command of all East coast patrols, but giving him a striking force that is kept concentrated."^[20]

Coast of Ireland

Appointed Senior Officer on the Coast of Ireland on 20 July, 1915 and assumed command on 22 July. His title was changed to Commander-in-Chief, Coast of Ireland on 4 June, 1917. The German submarine campaign was at its height and the frequent sinkings in the Western Approaches could only be checked by extremely vigorous defence measures and by exploiting new methods of attacking the submarines. Bayly had all the qualities for conducting the anti-submarine campaign, but for the first two years he never had sufficient ships for the large area for which he was responsible, until, in 1917, welcome reinforcements from the United States began to arrive.

Bayly was promoted to the rank of Admiral on 23 October, 1917, vice Carden, placed on the Retired List.^[21] In the King's Birthday Honours of 3 June, 1918, Bayly was appointed an Additional Member of the Second Class, or Knight Commander, in the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (K.C.M.G.).^[22]

Retirement

On 1 July, 1919, Bayly was placed on the Retired List at his own request.^[23]

In 1921 Bayly visited the United States as the guest of the Queenstown Association, a club formed by officers who had served under him from 1915 to 1918, and of which he was vice-president. In 1934 he was again the guest of the American navy when, at the Naval Academy at Annapolis, he unveiled a memorial, which the Secretary of the Navy had granted him permission to erect, to his American chief of staff, Vice Admiral Pringle.

Footnotes

Bibliography

Service Records

See Also

• Wikipedia