Hood, Samuel

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Hood, Samuel (1724–1816). Admiral. Born of Dorset clerical stock, Hood and his brother Alexander entered the navy at the same time and prospered under the patronage of the Lyttelton family and its relatives the Grenvilles and Pitts. Given a commission in 1746, Hood served throughout the Seven Years War and was present at Quiberon Bay in 1759. In 1767, still a captain, he was appointed commander-in-chief in North America; subsequently from 1771 to 1780 he was stationed at Portsmouth, where, in 1778, George III entrusted to him the naval grounding of the future William IV. A baronet (1778) and rear-admiral (1780), Hood was Rodney's second at the battle of the Saints (April 1782), and was severely critical of Rodney's failure to pursue the French. An Irish peer in 1782, he was returned to Parliament in 1784 for Westminster after a celebrated and fierce contest. Ten years later he conducted, with considerable address, the combined operations which led to the capture of Toulon. Raised to a British viscountcy in 1796, Samuel Hood stood high in the navy's esteem and was outspoken about the primitive conditions under which the lower deck served.

David Denis Aldridge

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