Arthur Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon

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The Lord Hood of Avalon
Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class
(Ottoman Empire)

First Naval Lord in June 1885 and in that role was primarily concerned with enshrining into law the recommendations contained in a report on the disposition of the ships of the Royal Navy many of which were unarmoured and together incapable of meeting the combined threat from any two of the other naval powers ("the Two-power Standard"): these recommendations were contained in the Naval Defence Act 1889
.

Early career

The turret ship HMS Monarch which Hood commanded

Hood was born the younger son of

Alexander Hood, had been killed in action during the French Revolutionary Wars; he fell whilst in command of HMS Mars, in action with the French 74-gun ship Hercule on 2 April 1798.[1]

Hood entered the

naval brigade and took part in the defence of Eupatoria in November 1854 during the Crimean War.[3] He was appointed to the Turkish Order of the Medjidie, 5th class for his services in the Crimea.[4]

Promoted to

China Station in May 1856, and arrived in time to take part in the destruction of the junks in the Battle of Fatshan Creek in June 1857 and in the Battle of Canton in December 1857 during the Second Opium War.[3]

Promoted to

Companion of the Order of the Bath on 20 May 1871,[7] he became captain of the turret ship HMS Monarch in the Channel Squadron in June 1874.[3]

Senior command

HMS Trafalgar, a ship of the type which Hood favoured and which he was instrumental in delivering into service

Promoted to

vice admiral on 23 July 1880.[9]

Hood was appointed

Trafalgar-class battleships entered service.[1] However he was primarily concerned with enshrining into law the recommendations contained in a report on the disposition of the ships of the Royal Navy many of which were unarmoured and together incapable of meeting the combined threat from any two of the other naval powers ("the Two-power Standard"): these recommendations were contained in the Naval Defence Act 1889.[1] He retired on attaining the age of sixty-five in July 1889.[12]

Hood was advanced to

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath on 3 September 1889[13] and raised to the peerage as Baron Hood of Avalon, in the County of Somerset on 23 February 1892,[14] a title that became extinct on his death.[2] After two years of ill health,[2] he died at his nephew's house in Glastonbury on 16 November 1901 and was buried at Butleigh in Somerset on 23 November 1901.[1]

Family

In 1855 Hood married Fanny Henrietta, daughter of Sir Charles Maclean, 9th Baronet; they had two daughters.[1] Emily born 1859 married the cricketer Francis MacKinnon; whilst his second child Fanny Sophia married Henry Allen in 1895.[15]

See also

  • O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Hood, Arthur William Acland" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33966. Retrieved 26 December 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  2. ^ a b c d (Laughton 1911, p. 668)
  3. ^ a b c d e "William Loney RN". Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  4. ^ "No. 22122". The London Gazette. 3 April 1858. p. 1736.
  5. ^ "No. 21656". The London Gazette. 30 January 1855. p. 352.
  6. ^ "No. 22104". The London Gazette. 26 February 1858. p. 1028.
  7. ^ "No. 23739". The London Gazette. 20 May 1871. p. 2473.
  8. ^ "No. 24309". The London Gazette. 28 March 1876. p. 2155.
  9. ^ "No. 24869". The London Gazette. 30 July 1880. p. 4211.
  10. ^ "No. 25551". The London Gazette. 22 January 1886. p. 329.
  11. ^ Heathcote 2002, p. 112.
  12. ^ "No. 25955". The London Gazette. 19 July 1889. p. 3895.
  13. ^ "No. 25970". The London Gazette. 3 September 1889. p. 4785.
  14. ^ "No. 26260". The London Gazette. 23 February 1892. p. 991.
  15. ^ Hesilrige 1921, p. 484.

Sources

Military offices
Preceded by
Second Naval Lord

1877–1879
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Lord John Hay
Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet
1880–1882
Succeeded by
Preceded by
First Naval Lord

1885–1886
Succeeded by
Lord John Hay
Preceded by
Lord John Hay
First Naval Lord

1886–1889
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation
Baron Hood of Avalon

1892–1901
Extinct