Hastings Yelverton Admiral Sir Hastings Reginald Yelverton , GCB , born Hastings Reginald Henry ( March 1808 – 24 July 1878 ) was a Royal Navy officer . As a junior officer he took part in a major action against pirates off Candia in June 1826 and was involved in protecting British interests during the Portuguese Civil War during the early 1830s . He saw action in the Crimean War as Captain of one of the two ships that captured a Russian barque beneath the batteries at Ekenäs in Finland in May 1854 . Then in July 1873 he took part in the suppression of the Cantonal Revolution in Cartagena . He became First Naval Lord in September 1876 and in that role implemented a series of economies demanded by the Disraeli ministry but was also involved in ordering the small , cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironclad " Ajax " - class battleships . Early career . Born the son of John Joseph Henry ( of Straffan ) and Lady Emily Elizabeth FitzGerald ( daughter of William FitzGerald , 2nd Duke of Leinster ) , Hastings Henry , as he then was , entered the Royal Navy as a first - class volunteer aboard the frigate HMS " Sybulle " in the Mediterranean Fleet in 1823 . He took part in a major action against pirates off Candia in June 1826 and subsequently served as a midshipman and mate in the brig HMS " Columbine " , the frigate HMS " Undaunted " and then the battleship HMS " St Vincent " in home waters . Promoted lieutenant on 18 December 1830 , Henry was posted to the second - rate HMS " Asia " , flagship of Sir William Parker , in September 1831 . HMS " Asia " was then based at Lisbon , protecting British interests during the Portuguese Civil War . He joined the sixth - rate HMS " Rattlesnake " on the East Indies Station in December 1834 . Promoted to commander on 28 June 1838 , he joined the sloop HMS " Styx " at Sheerness in August 1841 and then took command of the sloop " Devastation " in the Mediterranean Fleet in September 1841 . He became acting captain of the first - rate HMS " Queen " in the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1842 and acting captain of the fifth - rate HMS " Aigle " also in the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1843 . He was promoted to captain on 5 September 1843 and , following his marriage to Barbara Rawdon - Hastings , Marchioness of Hastings ( born Barbara Yelverton ) , assumed the surname of Yelverton on 3 January 1849 . Crimean service . Yelverton was given command of the steam screw frigate HMS " Arrogant " in October 1853 and saw service in the Crimean War . In May 1854 , HMS " Arrogant " and the steam screw frigate HMS " Hecla " captured a Russian barque beneath the batteries at Ekenäs in Finland . Throughout much on 1855 , Yelverton operated independently destroying Ruotsinsalmi sea fortress and other Russian installations along the Finnish coast , and was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his services on 5 July 1855 . In December 1856 , he took command of the second - rate HMS " Brunswick " and a gunboat flotilla for further operations but the Crimean War ended before he saw any action . He went on to Captain of the first - rate HMS " Conqueror " in the Mediterranean Fleet in July 1856 and comptroller - general of the coastguard in July 1859 . Higher command . Promoted rear admiral on 30 January 1863 , Yelverton became second - in - command of the Mediterranean Station , hoisting his flag in the second - rate HMS " Revenge " in June 1863 and then , from May 1865 , in the broadside ironclad HMS " Caledonia " . He went on to be Commander - in - Chief of the Channel Squadron in June 1866 , and having been promoted to vice - admiral on 29 May 1869 , he was appointed by Hugh Childers , then First Lord of the Admiralty , to a committee to consider the new turret ship design . He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath on 2 June 1869 . He was again given command of the Channel Squadron in July 1870 and then became Commander - in - Chief , Mediterranean Fleet , hoisting his flag in the battleship HMS " Lord Warden " , in October 1870 . In July 1873 he took part in the suppression of the Cantonal Revolution in Cartagena . He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 29 May 1875 and promoted to full admiral on 30 July 1875 . Yelverton , by now suffering from deaf ness , became First Naval Lord in September 1876 after Sir Geoffrey Hornby refused the post . In that role Yelverton implemented a series of economies demanded by the Disraeli ministry but was also involved in ordering the small , cheap and thoroughly unsuccessful ironclad " Ajax " - class battleships . Due to failing health , Yelverton resigned in November 1877 and died at the Grand Pump Hotel in Bath on 24 July 1878 . Family . Yelverton married the widowed Barbara Rawdon - Hastings , Marchioness of Hastings , " suo jure " Barbara 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 the John Yarde - Buller , 2nd Baron Churston .