RNLB H F Bailey (ON 694)

H.F. Bailey ON694 service to the Monte Nevoso
History
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
Builder	J. Samuel White at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
Official Number	ON 694
Donor	Legacy of Henry Francis Bailey, Brockenhurst, Surrey.
Station	Cromer
Laid down	1924
Fate	She left Cromer in 1935 and was renamed the J.B. Proudfoot and served in the reserve fleet
General characteristics
Type	Watson class
Length	45 ft 0 in (13.72 m) overall
Beam	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Installed power	single Weyburn petrol engine of 80 bhp (60 kW)

RNLB H F Bailey (ON 694) was the second lifeboat at Cromer in the county of Norfolk^[1] to bear the name of H F Bailey. She replaced H F Bailey (ON 670) which had been stationed at Cromer until 1924. In 1936 she became the station's reserve lifeboat and was renamed J B Proudfoot.

Description

The lifeboat was built by J. Samuel Whites at Cowes in the Isle of Wight in 1923.^[2] She was a Watson-class lifeboat and had a length of 45 feet (14 m) and breadth of 12 feet 6 inches (3.81 m). She was powered by a single Weyburn 80 hp petrol engine.

Donor

The Cromer station had four motor-powered lifeboats all called H F Bailey after the donor, Henry Francis Bailey of Brockenhurst,^[2] a London merchant who was born in Norfolk and died in 1916.

Service and rescues

As H F Bailey (ON 694)
Date	Casualty	Lives saved
1924
22 September	Auxiliary fishing cutter Iona of Middlesbrough, landed 4 from Haisborough light vessel	4
22 October	Steamship Clansman of Lowestoft	9
5 December	Steamship Vojvoda Putnik of Split, assisted to save vessel	41
27 December	Smith Knoll light vessel, rendered assistance
1925
19 April	Steam drifter Couronne of Lowestoft	8
12 June	Steamship Equity of Goole, rendered assistance
14 October	Barge Scotia of London, assisted to save vessel	3
1927
9 July	Steam Trawler ANSON of Grimsby, saved trawler	9
21–22 November	Steam tankerGEORGIA of Rotterdam	15
1928
25 January	Ketch HARROLD of London, assisted to save vessel	3
1929
28 June	River steamship EMPRESS of Nottingham	3
30 October	Four masted schooner SVENBERG of Vardo, stood by vessel
22 November	Motor yacht CELIA of Bridlington, Landed 2
1930
21 October	Steam drifter GIRL EVELYN of Fraserburgh, assisted to save vessel
1931
17 February	Fishing boat WELCOME HOME of Sheringham, saved	1
4 October	Steam trawler LE VIEUX TIGRE of Boulogne-sur-Mer, rendered assistance
20–22 November	Steamship Zembra of Dunkirk, saved vessel
24 December	Steamship VIKVALL of Oskarshamn, rendered assistance
1932
7 August	Motor trawler IVERNA of Galway, rendered assistance
3 September	Motor barge OLIVE MAY of London, rendered assistance
11 October	Steam drifter ALEXANDRINE of Boulogne-sur-Mer, stood by vessel and gave help
14–16 October	Steamship MONTE NEVOSO of Genoa, saved	29 plus one dog
14–16 October	Steam tug NOORDZEE of Rotterdam, saved from MONTE NEVOSO	1
28 November	Barge MATILDA UPTON of Ipswich, assisted to save vessel	3
1933
1 March	Steamship MARY KINGSLEY of London, rendered assistance
20 November	Motor barge GOLDCROWN of London, rendered assistance
13 December	Barge SEPOY of Dover, saved	2
1934
24 November	Motor barge RIAN of Groningen, rendered assistance
1935
13 February	Steamship CAMPUS of Cardiff, assisted to save vessel	29
31 May	Three masted schooner SIX SISTERS of Hull, rendered assistance
As reserve lifeboat J B Proudfoot (ON694)
1940
16 June	Steamship BRIKA of Swansea, assisted to save vessel

References

1. The Cromer Lifeboats, by Bob Malster & Peter Stibbons,:Poppyland Publishing, ISBN 0-946148-21-X
2. Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004, ISBN 0-7524-3197-8