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History
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, Hampshire
Station	Cromer
Cost	£7,307 14s 0d
Christened	27 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

RNLB H F Bailey (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. She is now part of the National Historic Fleet and has been preserved in the RNLI Henry Blogg Museum in Cromer.

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 Norfolk and had died in 1916.

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, each 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 electric searchlight.

Further use

RNLB HF Bailey went on to serve Helvick Head Lifeboat Station in County Waterford Republic of Ireland until 1969 when the station was closed. It remained closed until 1994 when it was reopened by the RNLI. The lifeboat stationed there 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 (ON 777)

Date	Casualty	Lives saved
1936
26 March	Steamship Boree of Caen, landed 7 from steamship Cadeuceus
2 April	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
20 April	Barge Will Everard of London, stood by vessel
7–11 August	Steamship San Francisco of Le Havre, rendered assistance
16–18 November	Steamship Nesttun of Tvedestrand, rendered assistance
18 November	Steam drifter Pitagaveny of Banff, saved	10
19 November	Steamship Yew Forest of Glasgow, took out a doctor
19 November	Steamship Lindisfarne of Newcastle on Tyne, rendered assistance
1937
9 November	Spritsail barge Hibernia of London	3
1938
10 February	Fishing boat Urgent of Cromer, stood by boat
May 30	Fishing boat G V H of Great Yarmouth, saved boat	2
7 August	Motor vessel John M of London, stood by vessel
2 November	Steamship Cantabria of Santander, saved	5
27 December	Steamship Otto H of Pori, rendered assistance
1939
18 June	Rowing boat of Cromer, Landed 5
9 October	Steamship Mount Ida of Piraeus, saved	29
1 December	Steamship Realf of Moss, landed 32 and 10 naval ratings from Santa Gata
8 December	Steamship Corea of Goole, saved	7
12 December	Steamship Corbrook of London, stood by vessel
21 December	Motor vessel Dosinia of London, assisted to save vessel	51
1940
9 January	Steamship Upminster of London, stood by vessel
11 January	Steamship Traviata of Genoa, landed 30 and saved	1
11 January	HMT Holyrood, gave help
12 January	Light Vessel No 58, saved a ship's boat	3
18 January	Steamship Asteria of Piraeus, saved	11
18 January	Light Vessel No 58, saved a ship's boat	4
30 January	Steam trawler Pelton of Grimsby, gave help
27 August	Aircraft, salvaged wreckage and gear
3 October	MV Actuosity of London, saved	8
15 November	HMT Dungeness, saved	11
25 November	HMT Dungeness, salvaged gear
7 December	Steamship Royston of Newcastle on Tyne, stood by
12 December	Steamship Royston of Newcastle on Tyne, gave help
1941
15 January	Steamship Lieutenant Robert Mory of Belfast, landed 19 and gave help
25 January	Steamship Meriones of Liverpool, saved	101
8 March	Boat from steamship Corduff of London, saved	13
8 March	Steamship Kenton of Newcastle, saved two boats
13 March	Steamship Essex Lance of London, gave help
14 March	Steamship Essex Lance of London, gave help
26 March	Steamship Kentwood of London, stood by
24 July	Aircraft, saved dinghy and picked up a body
6 August	(Convoy FS 559) Steamship Oxshott of London, saved	16
6 August	(Convoy FS 559) Steamship SS Gallois of Rouen, saved	31
6 August	(Convoy FS 559) Steamship Deerwood of London, saved	19
6 August	(Convoy FS 559) Steamship Betty Hindley, saved	22
15 September	Motor vessel Pontfield of Newcastle, gave help
September 23	Steamship J B Paddon of London, landed an injured man
Between Sept 17 – 6 Nov	Steamship Teddington of London, gave help on 22 occasions
16 October	British aircraft, landed a body
26 October	Steamship English Trader of London, saved	44
1942
29 January	Aeroplane dinghy seven miles north of Cley next the Sea, saved	1
2 February	Motor vessel Sedulity of London, landed an injured man
15 March	HMS Vortigern, picked up 11 bodies after torpedo attack
11 April	British aeroplane, landed 6
25 May	Yacht Betty of Gorleston, gave help
20 July	Aeroplane, gave help
18 November	Motor fishing boat Silver Queen of Lowestoft, saved vessel	2
1943
12 March	Barrage balloon, salvaged balloon
26 July	Wellington Bomber aeroplane, saved	5
1944
20 June	Aeroplane, salvaged wreckage
29 July	Aeroplane, salvaged gear
7–10 December	Steamship Samnethy of London, saved
1945
4 February	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

1. Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, Appendix 1 Lifeboat Summary.
2. "H F Bailey (1446)". nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 January 2008.
3. "Cromer Lifeboats - Museum". www.cromerlifeboats.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007.
4. Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, page 54.
5. Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, Two New Lifeboats, page 73.
6. "Archived copy". www.starlightpublishing.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 August 2007. Retrieved 19 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

• 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 0-9518530-0-7

v t e Watson-class lifeboats
Helen Smitton (ON 603) Lord Southborough (ON 688) H F Bailey (ON 694) H F Bailey II (ON 714) Abdy Beauclerk (ON 751) Thomas McCunn (ON 759) Mona (ON 775) H F Bailey III (ON 777) Julia Park Barry of Glasgow (ON 819) Jesse Lumb (ON 822) Henry Blogg (ON 840)
Royal National Lifeboat Institution

• Cromer lifeboats
• Ships preserved in museums
• Ships and vessels of the National Historic Fleet
• Watson-class lifeboats
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats by name
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats by number