She was built in Calcutta by Kyd & Co for the East India Company in 1818 as a speculation and acquired by the British Navy in June 1819. The figurehead represents Lord Hastings who was Governor General of India at the time.
HMS Hastings was a 74 gun third rate ship of the line.
She was approximately 53.9m long with a 14.8m beam and was 1763 t.
Armament consisted of 28 No. 32 pounder guns on the main gun deck with 28 No. 18 pounder guns on the upper gun deck. 4 No. 12 pounder guns on the quarterdeck with 10 No. 32 pounder carronades. 2 No. 12 pounders and 2 No. 32 pounder carronades were also located on the focsul.
In 1834 she was commanded by Captain Schiffer and was the flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir William Hall Gage in Lisbon.
Between 1838 and 1842 she operated in the Mediterranean including operations off the coast of Syria in 1840.
Between 1848 and 1853 she operated in the East Indies.
In 1855 she was converted to screw propulsion and joined the Baltic Fleet.
The ship served in Liverpool as a coastal defence vessel between 1857 and 1860 and between 1860 and 1862 was a reserve drill ship based in Liverpool.
Between 1862 and 1866 she was operating in Queenstown until 1870 when she became a coal hulk in Devonport before being sold in 1885. In 1866 she was broken up.
The figurehead was on display at the Liverpool salesroom of shipbrokers CW Kellock & Company for many years before being presented to Liverpool Maritime Museum where I photographed it on 2 May 2015.