Admiral Sir Sidney Robert Bailey, (27 August 1882 – 27 March 1942) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

officer who served as President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich from 1937 to 1938.

Naval career

Bailey joined the

as a cadet in the training ship HMS ''Britannia'' in September 1896.Sir Sidney Robert Bailey
Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives As a midshipman in , he took part in the Seymour Expedition for the relief of Peking legations in 1900 during the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, b ...

, for which he was mentioned in despatches. He was promoted to acting

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second hig ...

on 27 August 1901 and subsequently confirmed in that rank from the same date. In November 1902 he was posted to the

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, but was first lent for a couple of weeks to for sea-trials. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

on 27 February 1903. He qualified as a gunnery lieutenant from 1905 to 1907, and served in the battleship from 1908 to 1910 and in the cruiser from 1911 to 1912. Following two periods on the staff of the Whale Island gunnery school at Whale Island, he was promoted to

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

in June 1914. Bailey served as gunnery officer in during the first years of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. In 1916 he was appointed to the staff of Vice Admiral David Beatty and served as a fleet gunnery officer on , having been recommended by Flag-Captain Ernle Chatfield as "one of the best gunnery officers in the Navy". In November 1916 he was appointed Flag Commander to Beatty when the latter was appointed to the command of the Grand Fleet, first in and then the new fleet flagship . Bailey was promoted to captain in December 1918 and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

in 1919. He then worked as deputy director of the Operations Division of the Naval Staff. Bailey appointed naval attaché in Washington, D.C. in March 1921. In January 1923, he took command of the 9th Destroyer Flotilla of the Atlantic Fleet. In 1925 he was appointed

Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord The Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord also known as the Executive Assistant to the First Sea Lord was a senior appointment of the Royal Navy established in 1905 until 2014. The post holder was responsible for assisting the First Sea Lord in ...

, who was then Lord Beatty. He then returned to sea when he was given command of . Bailey was promoted to rear admiral in 1931 and, from April 1931 to October 1932, served as Chief of Staff to Admiral Sir Ernle Chatfield, who was at that time Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean Fleet.Senior Royal Navy appointments
In February 1933 he became Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff, and in August 1934 Bailey succeeded Rear Admiral

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the la ...

in command of the Battlecruiser Squadron, flying his flag aboard . During training exercises off the Spanish coast on 23 January 1935, the ''Hood'' and collided. Bailey and the captains of both ships were court-martialed for the incident. It was the first court-martial of an admiral since the First World War. Following acrimonious proceedings, Bailey and the captain of the ''Hood'' were both acquitted, while the court found the captain of the ''Renown'' guilty. However, the Admiralty subsequently reviewed of the verdicts and declined "to absolve Rear-Admiral Bailey from all blame". In 1936, the ''Hood'' needed to be refitted and recommissioned. The Admiralty had planned for Bailey to transfer his flag to the ''Renown''. However, there were continued bad feelings about the collision and courts-martial among the officers of the ''Renown'', and Bailey pleaded successfully to be allowed to remain with the ''Hood'' until she returned to Portsmouth. Bailey was appointed President of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in 1937. In 1938 he was appointed as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was promoted to admiral on retirement in 1939. Bailey was recalled to active service after the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In June 1940, the Admiralty created a secret committee, named the ''Bailey Committee'' for its chair, which examined the level of naval assistance to be sought from the United States. The American admiral Robert L. Ghormley was given a copy of the report in August 1940, and Bailey, the committee and Ghormley met regularly through the autumn, and developed important processes for the exchange of information about intelligence, technical and operational matters.

Personal life

In 1922, Bailey married Mildred Bromwell; they had a daughter and a son. Bailey died on 27 March 1942 after a short illness.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Sidney 1882 births 1942 deaths Admiral presidents of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Royal Navy admirals of World War II Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers who were court-martialled Military personnel from London