Edward Barry Stewart Bingham

Rear-Admiral Edward Barry Stewart Bingham, V.C., O.B.E., Royal Navy (26 July, 1881 – 24 September, 1939) was an officer in the Royal Navy.

Life & Career

Bingham was born in Bangor Castle, Ireland, the third son of the fifth Lord Clanmorris.

Bingham was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on 30 June, 1903.

On 30 September, 1904, Bingham ended an appointment in Bulwark to command unspecified torpedo boats.

Bingham was appointed in command of the destroyer Star on 25 April, 1905.

Bingham was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Commander on 30 June, 1911.

Great War

At the beginning of the war, Bingham was appointed to the battlecruiser Invincible, remaining there until 4 January, 1915, having been specially promoted to Commander on 31 December for his part in the Battle of the Falklands. On 7 February, he was appointed to command Hornet.

In early 1915, while captain of the destroyer Hornet, Bingham weathered ferocious weather conditions that stove in the bridge railings of his sub-divisional mate, Tigress. On 28 October, Hornet and Jackal deviated from a patrol to assist the armoured cruiser Argyll, which had run hard aground off Dundee. Judging that time was critical, Bingham went right in to the larger ship, and men jumped in batches when the time seemed right. Bingham took on about 500 men without mishap in this daring rescue. Jackal took off the remainder, entirely without loss.

Offsetting this coup to some degree, Bingham was faulted for a collision between Sandfly and Tigress some time in 1915. The Vice-Admiral commanding Third Battle Squadron judged that Bingham had cut too closely to another vessel and without indicating his intentions to the next ship astern before so doing.

On 18 May, 1915, he married Vera Maude Temple-Patterson.

He was appointed in command of Nestor on April, 1916 and would command her as part of the Thirteenth Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Jutland, where she was lost after an engineering casualty brought her to a standstill. Bingham wound up as a prisoner of war after being scooped up by the Germans. On 27 July, 1916 the British learned he'd been moved to an officers' detention centre in Freiberg. On 4 May, 1917, he was moved to Augustabad.

Bingham was repatriated soon after the war and was invested with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 13 December, 1918.

Post-War

Bingham was promoted to the rank of Captain on 31 December, 1919 on the recommendation of Admiral Sturdee.

He was appointed in command of the yacht Enchantress in September, 1920.

In May, 1931, Bingham was appointed in command of the light cruiser Comus.

His marriage to Vera would end in 1937, though it had yielded a son and a daughter. He would die in 1939, aged 58 in a London nursing home.

See Also

• Service Records
• Thirteenth D.F. (Royal Navy) at the Battle of Jutland
• Wikipedia
• "Rear-Admiral E. B. S. Bingham, V.C." (Obituary) The Times September 25, 1939. p. 10 (48419) column B.

Naval Appointments
Preceded by John R. Corner	Captain of H.M.S. Star 25 Apr, 1905 – 23 Jul, 1906	Succeeded by Henry G. L. Oliphant
Preceded by Ernest E. Parker	Captain of H.M.S. Flying Fish Aug, 1905	Succeeded by Charles H. Morgan
Preceded by Hubert H. de Burgh	Captain of H.M.S. Stag 5 Oct, 1908 – Feb, 1911	Succeeded by Frederic B. Coppin
Preceded by Cecil G. Chichester	Captain of H.M.S. Hornet 7 Feb, 1915 – Apr, 1916	Succeeded by Reginald St. P. Parry
Preceded by Reginald St. P. Parry	Captain of H.M.S. Nestor Apr, 1916 – 31 May, 1916	Succeeded by Vessel Lost
Preceded by Charles E. Cundall	Captain of H.M.S. Nereus 4 Jul, 1919 – 1 Oct, 1919	Succeeded by ?
Preceded by Richard L. Hamer	Captain of H.M.S. Tempest 1 Oct, 1919 – 8 Jan, 1920	Succeeded by Clement R. Dane
Preceded by Richard G. A. W. Stapleton-Cotton	Captain of H.M.S. Enchantress Sep, 1920 – 31 Mar, 1922	Succeeded by Kenelm E. L. Creighton
Preceded by Edward McC. W. Lawrie	Captain of H.M.S. Montrose 1 Oct, 1922 – 1 Oct, 1924	Succeeded by Edmond J. G. Mackinnon
Preceded by Philip A. Bateman-Champain	Captain (D), Eighth Destroyer Flotilla c. Oct, 1922 – Sep, 1923	Succeeded by Edward O. B. S. Osborne
Preceded by Sidney R. Bailey	Captain (D), Fourth Destroyer Flotilla Sep, 1923 – 1 Oct, 1924	Succeeded by Edmond J. G. Mackinnon
Preceded by Leonard L. P. Willan	Captain of H.M.S. Hecla 29 Dec, 1924 – 1 Jan, 1926	Succeeded by Vessel Decommissioned
Preceded by Leonard L. P. Willan as Captain (D), Nore Reserve Flotilla	Captain (D), Nore Destroyer Flotilla 29 Dec, 1924 – 29 Dec, 1926	Succeeded by Richard A. A. Plowden
Preceded by John W. C. O. Shelton	Captain of H.M.S. Malcolm 1 Jan, 1926 – 29 Dec, 1926	Succeeded by Richard A. A. Plowden
Preceded by Roger L'E. M. Rede	Captain of H.M.S. Resolution 3 Aug, 1929 – 29 Nov, 1930	Succeeded by Max K. Horton
Preceded by David C. Pillans	Captain of H.M.S. Comus 4 May, 1931 – 2 Jul, 1932	Succeeded by Cecil N. Reyne