Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
The Viscount Hood | |
|---|---|
James Northcote | |
| Born | 12 December 1724 Butleigh, Somerset, England |
| Died | 27 January 1816 (aged 91) London, England |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/ |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1741–1794 |
| Rank | Admiral |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
| Spouse(s) | Susannah Linzee |
| Relations |
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Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (12 December 1724 – 27 January 1816)
Early life
Childhood
The eldest son of Samuel Hood, vicar of
Early career
Samuel entered the
Seven Years' War
At the outbreak of the
He was appointed in
American Revolutionary War
In 1778, on the occasion of the King's visit to Portsmouth, Hood was made a baronet.[5] The war was deeply unpopular with much of the British public and navy. Many admirals had declined to serve under Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Admiral Rodney, who then commanded in the West Indies, had complained of a lack of proper support from his subordinates, whom he accused of disaffection. The Admiralty, anxious to secure the services of trustworthy flag officers, promoted Hood to rear-admiral on 26 September 1780,[8] and sent him to the West Indies to act as second in command under Rodney, who knew him personally. He joined Rodney in January 1781 in his flagship Barfleur, and remained in the West Indies or on the coast of North America until the close of the American Revolutionary War.[5]
The expectation that he would work harmoniously with Rodney was not entirely justified. Their correspondence shows that they were not on friendly terms; but Hood always did his duty, and he was so able that no question of removing him from the station ever arose. The unfortunate turn for the British taken by the campaign of 1781 was largely due to Rodney's neglect of Hood's advice.[5]
Battle of the Chesapeake
When Rodney decided to return to Britain for the sake of his health in the autumn of 1781, Hood was ordered to take the bulk of the fleet to the North American coast during the
When he returned to the West Indies, he was for a time in independent command, as commander-in-chief of the
Battle of the Saintes
On 12 April 1782 Hood took part in a British fleet under Rodney, which defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet that was planning an invasion of Jamaica. The French commander De Grasse, who had been responsible for the victory at Chesapeake, was captured and taken back to Britain as a prisoner.[9]
Battle of the Mona Passage
Eventually Hood was ordered to chase, and with his division of 12 ships he captured 4 ships at the
Peace
Hood was made an
Hood presided at the court-martial of some of surviving instigators of the mutiny on the Bounty, beginning on 12 September 1792. Among those on trial were crew members who were loyal to Bounty's commanding officer, William Bligh, but were forced to remain on the ship after Bligh was cast away in an open boat. Of the ten defendants, four were acquitted and the remaining six were found guilty of mutiny and sentenced to death. Three were recommended for mercy and were pardoned. The other men found guilty were hanged from the yardarm of HMS Brunswick on 29 October 1794.[16]
French Revolution
Defence of Toulon
Following the outbreak of the
Hood occupied Toulon on the invitation of the French royalists, and in co-operation with the Spaniards and Sardinians. In December of the same year, the allies, who did not work harmoniously together, were driven out, mainly by the generalship of Napoleon. Hood ordered the French fleet burned to prevent it falling back into the hands of the revolutionary government in Paris.[5]
Corsica
Hood then turned to the occupation of
In October, he was recalled to England in consequence of some misunderstanding with the admiralty or the ministry, which has never been explained. Richard Freeman, in his book, The Great Edwardian Naval Feud, explains his relief from command in a quote from Lord Esher's journal. According to this journal, "... [Hood] wrote 'a very temperate letter' to the Admiralty in which he complained that he did not have enough ships to defend the Mediterranean." As a result, Hood was then recalled from the Mediterranean.[17] He was promoted to full admiral on 12 April 1794.[18]
Later career
Samuel Hood was created Viscount Hood of Whitley, Warwickshire in 1796 with a pension of £2000 per year for life (about £210,000 a year in 2021 terms). In 1796, he was also appointed Governour of the Greenwich Hospital, a position which he held until his death in 1816.[19] He served as Tory Member of Parliament for Westminster from 1784 to 1788 and from 1790 to 1796, and was Member for Reigate between 1789 and 1790.[12] He died in Greenwich on 27 January 1816 and is buried in Greenwich Hospital Cemetery.[5] A peerage of Great Britain was conferred on his wife, Susannah, as Baroness Hood of Catherington in 1795.[5] Samuel Hood's titles descended to his youngest son, Henry (1753–1836).[5]
There are several portraits of Lord Hood by Lemuel Francis Abbott in the Guildhall and in the National Portrait Gallery. He was also painted by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough.[5]
Marriage and issue
In 1749 he married Susannah Linzee (1726–1806) (whose monument survives at Davenport House, Greenwich (Former Hospital Cemetery)), a daughter of Edward Linzee, Master Ropemaker at Portsmouth Dockyard,[20] and Mayor of Portsmouth.[21] By his wife he had issue including:
- Henry Hood, 2nd Viscount Hood (1753–1836), son and heir.
Legacy
A biographical notice of Hood by McArthur, his secretary during the Mediterranean command, appeared in the Naval Chronicle, vol. ii.[22] His correspondence during his command in America was published by the Navy Records Society.[23]
In 1792, Lieutenant William Broughton, sailing with the expedition of George Vancouver to the Northwest Coast of North America, named Mount Hood in present-day Oregon,[24] and Hood's Canal in present-day Washington, after Hood.[25][26] Port Hood, Nova Scotia, is also named after him.[27]
Two of the three ships of the Royal Navy named HMS Hood were named after him as well. One of these, the battlecruiser HMS Hood (51), was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck in 1941 during the Second World War.[28]
Portrayal
Hood was portrayed by David Torrence in the 1935 film Mutiny on the Bounty.[29]
See also
Several other members of the Hood family were notable figures in British history:
- Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, his brother, was also an Admiral.
- Samuel Hood (1705–1805), his cousin, was a purser.
- cousin once removed, was a Rear Admiral.
- Alexander Hood (1758–1798), brother of Sir Samuel Hood, was killed in the Battle of the Raz de Sein.
- Horace Hood (1870–1916) descended from Admiral Hood, was killed in the Battle of Jutland.
- Samuel Hood, 6th Viscount Hood (1910–1981) descendant of Admiral Hood and inheritor of the viscountcy, Foreign Office official and diplomat.
- List of ships called HMS Hood
References
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 665–666.
- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, "Hood, Viscount"
- ISBN 978-0-00-686152-2.
- ^ P. Acland–Hood. Butleigh Parish News, February 1989.
- ^ required.)
- ^ a b "Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount". Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ "Kingscourt School". Hampshire Gardens Trust. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ "No. 12122". The London Gazette. 26 September 1780. p. 5.
- ^ Harvey p. 530
- ^ Lambert p. 13
- ^ Lambert p. 14
- ^ a b "Hood, Samuel, 1st Baron Hood (1724–1816), of Catherington, Hants". History of Parliament. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "No. 12924". The London Gazette. 25 September 1787. p. 446.
- ^ a b "Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth". History in Portsmouth. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ Rodger, p. 69
- ^ "The Court-Martial of the Bounty Mutineers: An Account". www.famous-trials.com. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
- ^ Freeman, p. 145
- ^ "No. 13639". The London Gazette. 8 April 1794. p. 315.
- ^ "Royal Naval Hospital Old Burial Ground (nurses home), Greenwich, London, England". Archived from the original on 17 October 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
- ^ The Linzee Family of Great Britain and the United States of America and the Allied Families of Penfold, Tilden, Wooldridge, Hood, Hunt, Amory, Browne, Evans, Vol. 2., by John William Linzee
- ^ "H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: History of H.M.S. Hood – The Great Naval Hood Family". www.hmshood.com.
- ^ Naval Chronicle, vol. ii
- ^ "Navy Records Society" (PDF). Royal Historic Society. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ Swanson, D.A.; et al. (1989). "Mount Hood, Oregon". Cenozoic Volcanism in the Cascade Range and Columbia Plateau, Southern Washington and Northernmost Oregon: AGU Field Trip Guidebook T106, July 3–8, 1989. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
- ^ "Place Names of Nova Scotia". Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "How the Bismark sank HMS Hood". Channel 4. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
- ^ "Mutiny on the Bounty". IMBb. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hood, Samuel Hood, Viscount". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 665–666.
Sources
- Adkins, Lesley and Roy (2007). The War For All the Oceans. Abacus.
- Freeman, Richard (2009). The Great Edwardian Naval Feud Beresford's Vendetta against 'Jackie Fisher'. Pen & Sword Maritime.
- Harvey, Robert (2004). A Few Bloody Noses: The American Revolutionary War. Constable and Robinson.
- Lambert, Andrew (2008). Admirals: The Naval Commanders Who Made Britain Great. Fabre and Faber.
- Lambert, Andrew (2005). Nelson: Brittania's God of War. Faber and Faber.
- Rodger, N.A.M. (1979). The Admiralty. Offices of State. Lavenham: T. Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0900963948.
Further reading
- Beatson's Naval and Military Memoirs
- James's Naval History, vol. i.
- Troudes, Batailles navales de la France, ii. and iii.
- Chevalier's Histoire de la marine française pendant Ia guerre de l'indépendance américaine and Pendant Ia République.
External links
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