Edward Osborne Broadley

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Captain Edward Osborne Broadley, D.S.O., R.N., Retired (25 February, 1885 – ) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Born in Sidney House, Cork. Broadley gained two months' time on passing out of Britannia and joining the second class protected cruiser Cambrian on the South Coast of America in mid-1901.[1]

Broadley was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 1 April, 1907.[2]

On 10 November 1910, Broadley passed for signal lieutenant. In 1911, he would qualify in wireless.[3]

On 16 January, 1912, Broadley was appointed as Lieutenant & Commander of the first-class torpedo boat T.B. 9.[4]

Broadley was appointed in command of the destroyer Brazen on 19 May, 1914.[5]

Broadley was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 1 April, 1915. On the 6th of April, he applied for command of a destroyer in a FIrst Fleet flotilla. On 11 July, 1915 Broadley grounded Brazen and was told to be more careful.[6]

Broadley was captain the destroyer Mameluke on 29 September, 1917 when she and Tirade escorted a merchantman. Tirade departed from the escort to go dispatch the hapless UC 55 which was in distress nearby.[7]

On 23 November 1917, Broadley was sent to Granton Hospital with gastritis. He was discharged on 12 December. Resurveys did not find him fit, and in late February, 1918 he was diagnosed with chronic appendicitis. While recuperating, he was awarded a D.S.O. for his work in destroyers in the period ending 31 December, 1917 and the Italian Bronze Medal for his work in command of H.M.S. Brazen. It was not until 28 June, 1918 that Broadley was found to be fit for shore duty only. On 28 August, he was finally declared fit for general service.[8]

Once again hale, Broadley was appointed in command of the destroyer Vanessa on 28 September, 1918.[9]

Post-War

Broadley was promoted to the rank of Commander on 31 December, 1919.[10]

In July, 1923, Broadley became executive officer in the battleship Ajax. He was superseded when she re-commissioned in May, 1924.[11]

On 3 October 1926, Broadley was landed from Hermes to a military hospital in Colombo with dysentery. On the 19th, it was forecast that three weeks should be enough time for him to recover, but on 3 April 1927, a telegram announced that he had been invalided from the hospital ship Maine for enteritis which had developed from the dysentery. His condition proved so dire that he was sent back to England and not found fit until 14 August, 1928 – and he would fall ill with a bad case of influenza in 1929, too. His recovery from this illness spans fully fourteen lines of his service record![12]

Having been considered for an appointment as Commander (D), Portsmouth, in late 1930, Broadley served instead as executive officer in H.M.S. Malcolm, vice Johnson.[13]

Broadley was placed on the Retired List at his own request with the rank of Captain on 22 November, 1931.[14]

World War II

His perilous encounter with dysentery rendered Broadley ineligible for service afloat, but he was appointed as Naval Officer in Charge, Leith vice Lockhart on 21 November 1939. After being superseded on 26 June, 1942, Broadley was appointed in command of the naval air station H.M.S. Vulture, vice Farquhar, from July to December, 1942.[15]

Broadley reverted to the Retired List on 13 December, 1942. In 1943, he was employed by the Dominion's Officer for the poor abroad.[16]

See Also

Naval Appointments
Preceded by
Alister W. McDonald
Captain of H.M. T.B. 9
16 Jan, 1912[17][18] – Feb, 1914[19]
Succeeded by
Maurice C. Bomford
Preceded by
Henry I. M. L. Scott
Captain of H.M.S. Brazen
Feb, 1914[20] – 10 Aug, 1915[21]
Succeeded by
Robert B. Thomson
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. Morning Star
10 Aug, 1915[22] – late Aug, 1915[23][24]
Succeeded by
Hugh U. Fletcher
Preceded by
Hugh U. Fletcher
Captain of H.M.S. Redpole
late Aug, 1915[25][26] – 6 Jan, 1916[27]
Succeeded by
Ralph W. Wilkinson
Preceded by
New Command
Captain of H.M.S. Mameluke
6 Jan, 1916[28][29] – 26 Nov, 1917[30]
Succeeded by
Charles G. Stuart
Preceded by
Gerald C. Harrison
Captain of H.M.S. Vanessa
28 Sep, 1918[31][32] – 1 Feb, 1920[33]
Succeeded by
Henry M. Coombs
Preceded by
Eric W. M. King
Assistant Naval Attaché at Washington, D.C.
9 Apr, 1920[34] – 9 Apr, 1922[35]
Succeeded by
Arthur W. Clarke
Preceded by
William E. B. Magee
Captain of H.M.S. Rowena
10 Jul, 1924[36]c. 20 Aug, 1924[Inference]
Succeeded by
Colin R. St. G. Tucker
Preceded by
Anthony B. Lockhart
Naval Officer in Charge, Leith
21 Nov, 1939 – 26 Jun, 1942
Succeeded by
Colin A. M. Sarel

Footnotes

  1. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  2. The Navy List. (March, 1913). p. 10.
  3. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  4. The Navy List. (March, 1913). p. 400.
  5. The Navy List. (January, 1915). p. 285.
  6. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  7. Williams, M. W. HMS Tirade and the Sinking of UC-55 in Warship 1997-1998, p. 153. His name appears to be misspelled within there, but the rank given makes it seem clear.
  8. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  9. The Navy List. (February, 1919). p. 923a.
  10. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  11. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  12. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  13. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  14. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  15. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 186.
  16. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  17. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  18. The Navy List. (December, 1913). p. 401.
  19. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  20. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  21. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  22. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  23. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  24. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 397i.
  25. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  26. The Navy List. (October, 1915). p. 397i.
  27. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  28. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  29. The Navy List. (November, 1917). p. 395m.
  30. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  31. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  32. The Navy List. (February, 1920). p. 879b.
  33. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  34. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  35. Broadley Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/49/309. f. 156.
  36. "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jun 20, 1924; pg. 5; Issue 43683.