Stephen Lushington ( Royal Navy officer ) Sir Stephen Lushington GCB ( 12 December 1803 – 28 May 1877 ) was an officer in the Royal Navy who served during the Crimean War . Long and distinguished service in the Mediterranean brought him honours and rewards . Lushington was born into a gentry family , the son of a baronet , while his uncle was a judge and a member of parliament . Stephen entered the navy shortly after the end of the Napoleonic Wars , and after serving under a number of officers in far flung locations like the Mediterranean and the South American coast , rose through the ranks . He was particularly active against pirates in the Aegean Sea and was promoted to lieutenant after a number of boat actions . He returned to the Mediterranean at his new rank and saw action at the Battle of Navarino , where the British were allied with the Russians against the Ottoman forces . Lushington came to the attention of Admiral Sir Edward Codrington , the British commander in chief , and was soon promoted to his own command , that of a bomb vessel . He distinguished himself while supporting French operations in the Morea expedition , and received French and Greek honours for his part in attack on an Ottoman position , as well as the professional approbation of the French naval commander . Though promoted to post captain , Lushington went on to spend ten years without a ship . Returning to service in 1839 , he went out to the West Indies , but had to return home due to illness . He went on to command more ships in the Mediterranean , and was there when the Crimean War broke out . Operating this time against the Russians and in alliance with the Ottomans , Lushington took command of the naval brigade and won further honours . He was promoted to flag rank and received honours from the French and Ottomans , as well as from the British government . He rose to admiral during his last years , served as lieutenant - governor of Greenwich Hospital , and died in 1877 a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath and with a collection of foreign honours . Family and early life . Stephen Lushington was born on 12 December 1803 , the second son of Sir Henry Lushington , 2nd Baronet , and his wife , Fanny Maria . Fanny was the eldest daughter of Matthew Lewis , under - secretary at war . Stephen ' s uncle was Dr Stephen Lushington , a renowned legal expert , judge and member of parliament . The younger Stephen Lushington embarked on a naval career , joining the 36 - gun on 17 October 1816 under Captain James Whitley Deans Dundas . He was initially stationed in the Mediterranean , though in spring 1817 he transferred to the 26 - gun under Captain the Hon . Robert Cavendish Spencer , serving as a midshipman , and then went out to South America . Lushington followed Spencer to his next command , the 36 - gun from August 1819 , and remained aboard her until 1821 . He returned to the Mediterranean after this period of service , and joined the 20 - gun under Captain the Hon . Henry John Rous . Lushington was particularly active in the cruises against pirates in the Aegean Sea , and took part in a number of boat actions , that saw him promoted to lieutenant on 13 July 1824 . His promotion was followed by an appointment to the 18 - gun sloop under Commander Edward Richard Williams on 5 February 1825 . " Zebra " was at this time fitting out for the Mediterranean , and sometime after his arrival there , on 7 December 1825 , he transferred to the 48 - gun under Captain Gawen William Hamilton . He was still with " Cambrian " in 1827 , and saw action at the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827 . His service , including continued action with pirates while with " Cambrian " , brought him to Admiral Sir Edward Codrington ' s attention . Four days after Navarino Codrington arranged for him to be transferred into his flagship , the 84 - gun . He served on the flagship until his promotion to his first command , the bomb vessel on 13 May 1828 . Command . Lushington supported the Morea expedition during 1828 , and was part of a squadron under Captain Edmund Lyons aboard working with the French fleet under Vice - Admiral Henri de Rigny . Lushington played a distinguished part in the attack and capture of the Kastro Morea on 30 October 1828 . The French force , consisting of de Rigny ' s flagship , the 80 - gun " Conquérant " , and three frigates , the " Duchesse de Berri " , " Didon " and " Armide " were supporting a land assault by Generals Nicolas Joseph Maison and Antoine Virgile Schneider . Vice - Admiral Pulteney Malcolm forwarded Rigny ' s letter to the Admiralty , noting that it showed Lushington ' s " exertions and skill . " Rigny himself wrote " " Je me plais à reconnaître le active , et cordiale assistance , que vous ainsi que les officiers et marines sous vos ordres , nous ont donnée , soit avant , soit depuis mon arrivée ici , et particulièrement , dans le journée , d ' hier , ou les cannons de la Blonde , et le service de la bombarde du Capitaine Lushington , ont tant contribué à abréger le resistance du chateau de Morée . " " For their services both Lushington and Lyons were nominated as Chevaliers of the Order of Saint Louis by the French , and appointed to the Order of the Redeemer by the Greeks . Lushington ' s promotion to post captain did not come for some time though , though he was finally posted on 28 October 1829 . A long period of unemployment followed , he was ashore for nearly ten years before finally appointed to take command of the 26 - gun on 19 January 1839 , and sail her to the West Indies . He became ill while on this station , and after a long period of ill - health , was invalided back to Britain in November 1840 on the orders of the station commander , Sir Thomas Harvey . Lushington ' s health presumably recovered while in England , and on 11 October 1845 he took command of the paddle frigate . He commanded her in home waters until 1846 , and then took over the 84 - gun in 1847 . He took " Vengeance " out to the Mediterranean , and left her in November 1848 to take up the post of superintendent of the Indian navy , which he held until 1852 . He went to sea again in July 1852 as captain of the 90 - gun , sailing out to the Mediterranean , and was still there when the Crimean War broke out in 1854 . Crimea and flag rank . Lushington sailed into the Black Sea with the rest of the allied fleet and joined the forces laying siege to Sevastopol . He went ashore in command of the naval brigade and distinguished himself in the actions which followed . During his time in the Crimea he met and became friends with Frances " Fanny " Duberly , arranging for a hut to be built for her to allow her to live on shore . Fanny Duberly recorded of Lushington that " I like him because he is clever , energetic & resolute and I am not afraid of him when he chooses to say disagreeable personalities which he sometimes likes to do to shew off his sharpness . " Lushington for his part teased her by calling her " wilful and wayward " . Lushington was promoted to rear - admiral on 4 July 1855 , and the following day was nominated a Knight Commander of the Bath , an " Officier " and " Commandeur " of the Legion of Honour by France , and decorated with the Order of the Medjidie , Second Class , by the Ottoman Empire . On his departure from the Crimea Fanny Duberly noted that he was returning " laden with honours to England . And what well deserved honours they are , and must be , for this reason , that not one man out in the campaign has made an observation implying that his distinctions were cheaply earned , or that he had been rewarded above his merit ; and as such observations are very rife in the camp on like occasions , I think that their absence now is the surest sign that ' his honours do become him well . " Lushington was succeeded in command of the naval brigade by Captain the Hon . Henry Keppel , of . Lushington does not appear to have had further active service , but was lieutenant - governor of Greenwich Hospital between 1862 and 1865 , an appointment that denied him further promotions . When he relinquished the post , he was at once promoted to vice - admiral on 1 October 1865 , with his seniority backdated to when he first took it up , between April and October 1862 . A further promotion followed , to full admiral on 2 December 1865 , and on 13 March 1867 he was nominated a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath . He had married Henrietta Prescott , the eldest daughter of Rear - Admiral Henry Prescott , on 5 July 1841 , and the couple left issue . Lady Lushington died in 1875 , and Admiral Sir Stephen Lushington died two years later , on 28 May 1877 at Oak Lodge , Thornton Heath , Surrey . Notes . a . John Marshall ' s " Royal Naval Biography " has the transfer taking place " Four days after the battle . . . " , i . e . 24 October , while William Richard O ' Byrne ' s " Naval Biographical Dictionary " also states it took place on 24 October . John Knox Laughton in the " Dictionary of National Biography " instead states that it took place " Three days [ after the battle ] " . b . Translated as " I would like to recognize the active and cordial support you and the officers and marines under your command have given us , either before or since my arrival here , particularly in the day , yesterday , the cannons of the Blonde and the service of the bomb of Captain Lushington , have both contributed to shorten the resistance of the castle of Moree . "