Sir Hastings Yelverton | |
|---|---|
 As depicted byJames Tissot inVanity Fair, June 1877. Caption read "Spanish Ironclads" | |
| Birth name | Hastings Reginald Henry |
| Born | 8 March 1808 Kildare, Ireland |
| Died | 24 July 1878(1878-07-24) (aged 70) Bath, Somerset |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1823–1877 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands | First Naval Lord Mediterranean Fleet Channel Squadron HMS Conqueror HMS Brunswick HMS Arrogant HMS Aigle HMS Queen |
| Battles / wars | Portuguese Civil War Crimean War Cantonal Revolution |
| Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath |
AdmiralSir Hastings Reginald Yelverton,GCB (bornHastings Reginald Henry; 21 March 1808[1] – 24 July 1878) was aRoyal Navy officer. As a junior officer he took part in a major action against pirates offCandia in June 1826 and was involved in protecting British interests during thePortuguese Civil War during the early 1830s. He saw action in theCrimean War as Captain of one of the two ships that captured a Russianbarque beneath the batteries atEkenäs in Finland in May 1854. Then in July 1873 he took part in the suppression of theCantonal Revolution inCartagena. He becameFirst Naval Lord in September 1876 and in that role implemented a series of economies demanded by theDisraeli ministry but was also involved in ordering the small, cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironcladAjax-class battleships.
Born the son of John Joseph Henry (ofStraffan) and Lady Emily Elizabeth FitzGerald (daughter ofWilliam FitzGerald, 2nd Duke of Leinster), Hastings Henry, as he then was, entered theRoyal Navy as a first-class volunteer aboard thefrigateHMSSibylle in theMediterranean Fleet in 1823.[2] He took part in a major action against pirates offCandia in June 1826 and subsequently served as amidshipman andmate in thebrigHMSColumbine, thefrigateHMSUndaunted and then thebattleshipHMSSt Vincent in home waters.[2]
Promoted lieutenant on 18 December 1830, Henry was posted to thesecond-rateHMSAsia, flagship ofSir William Parker, in September 1831.[3] HMSAsia was then based atLisbon, protecting British interests during thePortuguese Civil War.[4] He joined thesixth-rateHMSRattlesnake on theEast Indies Station in December 1834.[3] Promoted tocommander on 28 June 1838, he joined thesloopHMSStyx atSheerness in August 1841 and then took command of the sloopDevastation in theMediterranean Fleet in September 1841.[3] He became acting captain of thefirst-rateHMSQueen in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1842 and acting captain of the fifth-rateHMSAigle also in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1843.[3] He was promoted tocaptain on 5 September 1843 and, following his marriage toBarbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings (born Barbara Yelverton), assumed the surname of Yelverton on 3 January 1849.[5]
Yelverton was given command of the steam screw frigateHMSArrogant in October 1853 and saw service in theCrimean War.[2] In May 1854, HMSArrogant and the steam screw frigateHMSHecla captured a Russianbarque beneath the batteries atEkenäs in Finland.[6] Throughout much on 1855, Yelverton withHMSArrogant andHMSMagicienne operated independently destroyingRuotsinsalmi sea fortress andSvartholm fortress,[7] and was appointed aCompanion of the Order of the Bath for his services on 5 July 1855.[8] In December 1856, he took command of the second-rateHMSBrunswick and a gunboat flotilla for further operations but the Crimean War ended before he saw any action.[2] He went on to be captain of the first-rateHMSConqueror in the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1856 andcomptroller-general of the coastguard in July 1859.[3]
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Promotedrear admiral on 30 January 1863,[9] Yelverton became second-in-command of the Mediterranean Station, hoisting his flag in the second-rateHMSRevenge in June 1863 and then, from May 1865, in the broadside ironcladHMSCaledonia.[3]
He went on to be Commander-in-Chief of theChannel Squadron in June 1866, and having been promoted tovice admiral on 29 May 1869, he was appointed byHugh Childers, thenFirst Lord of the Admiralty, to a committee to consider the new turret ship design.[2] He was elevated toKnight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1869.[10] He was again given command of the Channel Squadron in July 1870 and then becameCommander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet, hoisting his flag in the battleshipHMSLord Warden, in October 1870.[3]
In July 1873, he took part in the suppression of theCantonal Revolution inCartagena.[2] He was advanced toKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 29 May 1875[11] and promoted to fulladmiral on 30 July 1875.[12]
Yelverton, by now suffering fromdeafness, becameFirst Naval Lord in September 1876 afterSir Geoffrey Hornby refused the post. In that role Yelverton implemented a series of economies demanded by theDisraeli ministry but was also involved in ordering the small, cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironcladAjax-class battleships.[2] Due to failing health, Yelverton resigned in November 1877 and died at the Grand Pump Hotel inBath on 24 July 1878.[3]
Yelverton married the widowedBarbara Rawdon-Hastings, Marchioness of Hastings, who wassuo jureBarbara Yelverton, 20th Baroness Grey de Ruthyn (d. 1858) on 9 April 1845; their only child was born shortly thereafter - Hon. Barbara Yelverton (12 January 1849 – 1 October 1924), who married theJohn Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston.[13]
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron 1866–1867 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Channel Squadron July 1870–October 1870 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet 1870–1874 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Sir Alexander Milne | First Naval Lord 1876–1877 | Succeeded by Sir George Wellesley |
