USS Bailey (DD-269)
| |
| Career |  Royal Navy Ensign
|
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | February 1919 |
| Commissioned (USN): | 27 June 1919 |
| Decommissioned (USN): | 26 November 1940 |
| Commissioned (RN): | 26 November 1940 |
| Fate: | scrapped, July 1945 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1,215 tons |
| Length: | 314 feet 4 inches |
| Beam: | 31 feet 8 inches |
| Draught: | 9 feet 10 inches |
| Propulsion: | geared turbines |
| Speed: | 35 knots |
| Complement: | 122 officers and enlisted |
| Armament: | 4 4", 1 3", 12 21" tt. |
The second USS Bailey (DD-269) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy and transferred to the Royal Navy where she served as HMS Reading (G71) during World War II.
As USS Bailey
Named for Theodorus Bailey, she was launched in February 1919 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Squantum, Massachusetts; sponsored by Miss Rosalie Fellows Bailey, great-granddaughter of Admiral Bailey, commissioned 27 June 1919, Commander A. Sharp in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.
Bailey carried out routine operations along the west coast between October 1919 and June 1922. Because of the disturbed conditions on the west coast of Mexico she was assigned to patrol duty there for short periods in 1920. On 16 June 1922 Ba iley went out of commission at San Diego, California.
On 30 September 1939 she was recommissioned at San Diego and reported to Destroyer Division 72, Atlantic Squadron. Bailey served with the Squadron in operations off the eastern seaboard until November 1940. On 26 November 1940 she was decommissioned at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and transferred in the destroyer-land bases exchange to Great Britain.
See USS Bailey for other ships of this name.
As HMS Reading
Renamed HMS Reading she was commissioned 26 November 1940 for service with the 5th "Town" Flotilla and arrived at Plymouth, England, 17 December 1940. Between December 1940 and July 1941 she escorted convoys in the Atlantic, working out of Liverpool. In July 1941 she joined the Newfoundland Escort Group with which she remained until May 1942. Between May and October 1942 she underwent a yard overhaul, after which she served as a target ship for aircraft from the Air Station, Fearn, Scotland, and continued in this assignment until July 1945 when she was handed over to ship-breakers at Rosyth.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
