Captain Frank Abney-Hastings

     Captain Frank Abney-Hastings, son of General Sir Charles Hastings and Lady Parnell ABNEY, was born on 14 February 1794 at Willesley Hall in Ashby de la Zouch, Leicestershire, England.¹

He entered the British Navy at the age of eleven, rising to midshipman on board the HMS Neptune where in 1805 he saw his first action at the Battle of Trafalgar. He rose through the ranks, took part in the Battle of New Orleans and took temporary command of a couple of ships. Following an incident in Jamaica in 1819, the details of which remain unclear, the Admiralty removed Hastings' name from the list of Officers of his Majesty's Navy.

His career brought to a premature end, Frank resolved instead to enter into foreign service. Three years later he traveled to Greece with the hope of securing a position in the Greek Navy fighting against the Turks. Serving first in operations off Chios he later distinguished himself while in charge of the island fort of Bourtzi at Nafplio. His experiences in the Greek Navy convinced him of the need to reform the fleet to make it a more effective force against the Turks. The keystone of his strategy was the construction of a steam warship and in autumn 1824 he left Greece for England witht the blue prints of the "Karteria", or in English, "Perseverance".

In 1825 the struggle for Greek Independence suffered a series of military disasters following the success of Ibrahim Pasha in the Morea. When Abney-Hastings returned to Greece aboard the Karteria in 1826, although the situation appeared desparate, it was not long before he was able to demonstrate the deadly effectiveness of his new ship. In March 1827 the Karteria took part in a combined naval and army attack upon the harbour of Oropos designed to cut the Turk's communications, thus releiving the Siege of Athens. A month later, in command of a squadron, Abney-Hastings made a successful raid against Turkish ships in the Gulf of Volos. This success was followed, in September, by further naval confrontations in the Gulf of Korinth during which he destroyed an entire Turkish squadron off the Bay of Itee.

Abney-Hastings also took part in the recapture of Messolongi, which had fallen to the Turks in 1824, causing the surrender of the strategically important island fort of Vasiladhi. He was at Vasiladhi again in May 1828 with the intention of launching an assault on Messolongi. During a failed attempt to storm Anatoliko, 25th May, Frank was struck in the left arm by a bullet; he died of blood poisoning six days later at Zakinthos.¹

Captain Frank Abney-Hastings died on 1 June 1828 in Zakinthos, Greece, at age 34.¹ He was buried in the Island of Poros, Greece. The Greek president ordered a national funeral ceremony for Hastings. His heart is immured in the Anglican church in Athens.

100 years after his death Greece honored his memory. Messalongi erected a large monument in the Garden of Heroes and the government issued a medallion. He is regarded as a hero of the Greek War of Indenpendence.