HOOD, Samuel, better known as Viscount Hood, belonged to a family of which several members have earned a lasting name in the naval annals of England. He was born in 1724 at Butley, in Somersetshire, of which parish his father was rector. Entering the navy at an early age, he passed rapidly through the inferior grades, and in 1757 was made captain of the Antelope, a 50-gun ship, with which he captured a French ship of equal size. After serving in the Mediterranean and on the American coast with such distinction as to earn a baronetcy, he was sent in 1780 to the West Indies to co-operate with Sir George Rodney, and while there fought some indecisive actions with the Comte de Grasse. In the course of the American War he again engaged that commander off the mouth of the Chesapeake, and with a similar result. In the actions of the 9th and 12th April, which followed the capture of the island of St Christopher by the French, Hood had the brunt of the battle to bear, and distinguished himself so much that he was created a peer of Ireland with the title of Baron Hood of Catherington; and on Rodney's return home was promoted to the chief command, which he held till peace was proclaimed in 1783. When the war of the French Revolution broke out Hood was sent to the Mediterranean, where the royalists in Toulon received him with open arms, and surrendered that city to his care. When the republicans, under the command of Napoleon, were on the point of regaining possession of the city, Hood destroyed the arsenal, and burned fifteen sail of the line, besides carrying off eight; and in the following year signalized himself by expelling the French from Corsica. Soon after this exploit he returned home, and was rewarded for his numerous services with the governorship of Greenwich Hospital, an English peerage with the title of Viscount Hood of Whitley, and finally with the Grand Cross of the Bath. He was in his ninety-second year when he died at Bath, June 27, 1816. In Viscount Hood were combined the finest qualities of the English sailor. He certainly had not the genius of Blake or Nelson; but among the men of talent who have contributed to raise the British navy to its present pre-eminence, few stand higher than he. To great nautical skill he joined high courage, a prompt decision of movement, and a sagacity of judgment that won the confidence of the nation as well as of the fleet. With all his daring he was cautious enough to avoid risking his ships or men unless the prize were a very tempting one, or unless, with the means at his command, he felt himself justified in trying to secure it.—The
career of Lord Hood's younger brother Alexander, afterwards Viscount Bridport, was very similar to his own. Passing rapidly through the lower grades of the service, he rose to be second in command of the fleet which was sent out in 1782 under Lord Howe to relieve Gibraltar. In that commander's great victory with the Channel fleet on June 1, 1794, Hood was again his second in command, and contributed greatly to the successful result of the action. In the following year, while enjoying an independent command, he encountered a French fleet off L'Orient, and took three sail of the line. When Lord Howe retired from the service Hood succeeded him in the command of the Channel fleet, which he retained till 1800. In 1801, his numerous and valuable services were rewarded with an English peerage under the title of Viscount Bridport. He died at Bath in 1814.—Hardly less distinguished than either of the above was their cousin Sir Samuel Hood, who earned his laurels at Toulon, Corsica, and the Nile. In 1806 he greatly signalized himself by the capture of three French frigates in an action off Rochefort, for which exploit he was rewarded with the Order of the Bath. Soon after the battle of Copenhagen, in which he took part, he was promoted to the highest naval command in India, where he died in 1814. To the remarkable nautical talents that seemed hereditary in the family to which he belonged, he superadded a great knowledge of science, of which he was an ardent student.