Frank Abney Hastings
Encyclopedia
Frank Abney Hastings (1794 – 1 June 1828) was a British naval officer and Philhellene.
, a natural son of Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon
. He entered the navy in 1805, and was in the Neptune
(100) at the battle of Trafalgar
; but in 1820 a quarrel with his flag captain led to his leaving the service. The revolutionary troubles of the time offered chances of foreign employment. Hastings spent a year on the continent to learn French, and sailed for Greece on 12 March 1822 from Marseilles. On 3 April he reached Hydra
. For two years he took part in the naval operations of the Greeks in the Gulf of Smyrna and elsewhere.
("Perseverance"), manned by Englishmen, Swedes and Greeks, and provided with apparatus for the discharge of shell and hot shot. He did enough to show that if his advice had been vigorously followed the Turks would have been driven off the sea long before the date of the battle of Navarino
. The great effect produced by his shells in an attack on the sea-line of communication of the Turkish army, then besieging Athens
at Oropos and Volos in March and April 1827, was a clear proof that much more could have been done.
Military mismanagement caused the defeat of the Greeks round Athens. But Hastings, in co-operation with General Richard Church
, shifted the scene of the attack to western Greece. Here his destruction of a small Turkish squadron at Salona Bay in the Gulf of Corinth (29 September 1827) provoked Ibrahim Pasha
into the aggressive movements which led to the destruction of his fleet by the allies at Navarino on 20 October 1827.
On 25 May 1828 he was wounded in an attack on Aitoliko
, and he died in the harbour of Zante on 1 June. General Gordon
, who served in the war and wrote its history, says of him: "If ever there was a disinterested and really useful Philhellene it was Hastings. He received no pay, and had expended most of his slender fortune in keeping the Karteria afloat for the last six months. His ship, too, was the only one in the Greek navy where regular discipline was maintained."
Early career
He was the son of Lieut.-general Sir Charles Hastings of Willesley HallWillesley
Willesley is a place near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It was in Derbyshire but is now part of Leicestershire. In the 19th century it had a population of about 60 and Willesley Hall was the home of the Abney and later the Abney-Hastings family. Willesley is so small that it would be a hamlet except that it...
, a natural son of Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon
Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon
Francis Hastings, 10th Earl of Huntingdon PC was a British peer and politician.He was the son of the 9th Earl of Huntingdon and his wife, Selina. Hastings succeeded as Earl of Huntingdon and Baron Botreaux on his father's demise in 1746...
. He entered the navy in 1805, and was in the Neptune
HMS Neptune (1797)
HMS Neptune was a 98-gun second rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She served on a number of stations during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
(100) at the battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
; but in 1820 a quarrel with his flag captain led to his leaving the service. The revolutionary troubles of the time offered chances of foreign employment. Hastings spent a year on the continent to learn French, and sailed for Greece on 12 March 1822 from Marseilles. On 3 April he reached Hydra
Hydra, Saronic Islands
Hydra is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece, located in the Aegean Sea between the Saronic Gulf and the Argolic Gulf. It is separated from the Peloponnese by narrow strip of water...
. For two years he took part in the naval operations of the Greeks in the Gulf of Smyrna and elsewhere.
Writings
He saw that the light squadrons of the Greeks must in the end be overpowered by the heavier Turkish navy, clumsy as it was; and in 1823 he drew up and presented to Lord Byron a very able memorandum which he laid before the Greek government in 1824. This paper is of peculiar interest apart from its importance in the Greek insurrection, for it contains the germs of the great revolution which has since been effected in naval gunnery and tactics. In substance the memorandum advocated the use of steamers in preference to sailing ships, and of direct fire with shells and hot shot, as a more trustworthy means of destroying the Turkish fleet than fire-ships. It will be found in Finlay's History of the Greek Revolution, vol. ii. appendix i. Lack of resources prevented the full application of Hastings's plans; but by the use of his own money, of which he is said to have spent £7,000, he was able to some extent to carry them out.Later adventures
In 1824 he came to England to obtain a steamer, and in 1825 he had fitted out a small steamer named the KarteriaKarteria
The Kartería was the first steam-powered warship to be used in combat operations in history. It was built in 1825 in an English shipyard for the revolutionary Hellenic Navy during the Greek War of Independence....
("Perseverance"), manned by Englishmen, Swedes and Greeks, and provided with apparatus for the discharge of shell and hot shot. He did enough to show that if his advice had been vigorously followed the Turks would have been driven off the sea long before the date of the battle of Navarino
Battle of Navarino
The naval Battle of Navarino was fought on 20 October 1827, during the Greek War of Independence in Navarino Bay , on the west coast of the Peloponnese peninsula, in the Ionian Sea. A combined Ottoman and Egyptian armada was destroyed by a combined British, French and Russian naval force...
. The great effect produced by his shells in an attack on the sea-line of communication of the Turkish army, then besieging Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
at Oropos and Volos in March and April 1827, was a clear proof that much more could have been done.
Military mismanagement caused the defeat of the Greeks round Athens. But Hastings, in co-operation with General Richard Church
Richard Church (general)
Sir Richard Church KCH, CB ,For the date of death see relevant Section of the article explaining the discrepancy of sources was a military officer in the British Army and general in the Greek army during the last stages of the Greek Revolution after 1827 and elected politician in Greece, member of...
, shifted the scene of the attack to western Greece. Here his destruction of a small Turkish squadron at Salona Bay in the Gulf of Corinth (29 September 1827) provoked Ibrahim Pasha
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt
Ibrahim Pasha was the eldest son of Muhammad Ali, the Wāli and unrecognised Khedive of Egypt and Sudan. He served as a general in the Egyptian army that his father established during his reign, taking his first command of Egyptian forces was when he was merely a teenager...
into the aggressive movements which led to the destruction of his fleet by the allies at Navarino on 20 October 1827.
On 25 May 1828 he was wounded in an attack on Aitoliko
Aitoliko
Aitoliko is a town and a former municipality in Aetolia-Acarnania, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Messolonghi, of which it is a municipal unit. It is located north of the Acheloos delta. The Greek National Road 5/E55 passes through the...
, and he died in the harbour of Zante on 1 June. General Gordon
Charles George Gordon
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
, who served in the war and wrote its history, says of him: "If ever there was a disinterested and really useful Philhellene it was Hastings. He received no pay, and had expended most of his slender fortune in keeping the Karteria afloat for the last six months. His ship, too, was the only one in the Greek navy where regular discipline was maintained."