The Admiralty inquiry concluded that training in the Channel without destroyer protection created an excessive risk and should not continue. Bayly was relieved for failing to take adequate precautions even though no standing order explicitly prohibited the exercise. The distinction separated the absence of a formal breach from a serious failure of command judgment. His appointment as president of the Royal Naval College at Greenwich gave the Admiralty an interim use for him while it decided what should follow. In July 1915 he moved to the Irish coast and became intensely focused on anti-submarine protection, showing an institution punishing the decision while retaining an officer capable of learning from it.
Notable Point · 56:03-57:20
The Admiralty inquiry, Bayly’s relief, and institutional learning
The Admiralty distinguished a lack of formal prohibition from poor operational judgment, relieving Bayly while retaining an officer who later adapted.