Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726-12-02 – 1814-05-02 ) was an officer of the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, and the brother of Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood.
He entered the navy in about 1740, and was appointed Lieutenant of HMS Bridgewater in 1746. He was promoted to Commander in 1756 and served as flag captain for Rear Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, first in Prince in the Mediterranean, then in Minerva . In the Seven Years' War he fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay on 1759-11-20 , and in 1761 Minerva recaptured the 60-gun Warwick , which had been captured by the French ship Atlante in 1756. For the remainder of the war, from 1761 to 1763 Hood was captain of Africa in the Mediterranean.
In 1778 he was appointed to Robust and fought at the First Battle of Ushant on July 22. In the court-martial of Admiral Augustus Keppel that followed the battle, Hood took up Keppel's defence.
In 1780 he was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White. In the American Revolutionary War, in HMS Queen, he took part in the relief of Gibraltar in 1787.
He served in Parliament, but on the outbreak of war with France in 1793 he went to sea again. In the War of the First Coalition, on 1794-06-01 , in HMS Royal George , he was third in command to Admiral Richard Howe at the battle of the Glorious First of June. For his exploits in this battle he was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Bridport.
On 1795-06-23 , in Queen Charlotte , he fought the inconclusive Battle of Groix against the French under Rear Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse off the Īle de Groix and captured three ships. He was much criticized in the navy for his failure to win a more decisive victory. However the British public considered the battle a great victory and Hood's peerage was made English and he was promoted to Vice Admiral of England .
From 1795 until his retirement in 1800 he was commander of the Channel Fleet . In 1796 and 1797 he directed the war from London, rarely hoisting his flag. In 1797, after the Spithead mutiny had been suppressed, Hood took the fleet to sea and from 1798 he personally directed the blockade of Brest until he was relieved by John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent in 1800.
In reward for his fine record his peerage was made a viscounty. He spent the remaining years of his life in retirement. He died on 1814-05-02 . The viscounty in the English peerage died with him; the Irish barony passed to the younger branch of his brother's family, for whom the viscounty was recreated in 1868.
See also
References
- William James, Naval History of Great Britain, 1793–1827.
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Last updated: 05-28-2005 20:23:41
