Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport
Encyclopedia
Admiral Alexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport, KB
(2 December 1726 – 2 May 1814) was an officer of the British
Royal Navy
during the French Revolutionary Wars
and Napoleonic Wars
, and the brother of Admiral
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
.
in HMS Bridgewater in 1746. He was promoted to Commander
in 1756 and served as flag captain
for Rear Admiral
Sir Charles Saunders
, first in HMS Prince
in the Mediterranean (the flagship of Rear-Admiral Saunders, under whom Hood had served as a lieutenant), then in HMS Minerva
frigate.
he fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay
on 20 November 1759, and in 1761 Minerva recaptured after a long struggle, the 60-gun HMS Warwick
of equal force, which had been captured by the French in 1756. For the remainder of the war, from 1761 to 1763 Hood was captain of HMS Africa
in the Mediterranean.
and fought at the First Battle of Ushant
on 22 July. In the court-martial of Admiral Augustus Keppel
that followed the battle, although adverse popular feeling was aroused by the course which he took in Keppel's defence, his conduct does not seem to have injured his professional career.
In 1780 he was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White, and succeeded Kempenfeldt as one of Howe's flag-officers. In the American Revolutionary War
, in HMS Queen
, he took part in Howe's relief of Gibraltar
in 1782.
for a time. Promoted vice-admiral in 1787, he became K.B. in the following year, and on the occasion of the Spanish armament in 1790 flew his flag again for a short time. On 22 October 1790 he was a member of the court that acquitted William Bligh
of losing his ship . On the outbreak of war with France
in 1793 he went to sea again. In the War of the First Coalition
, on 1 June 1794, in HMS Royal George
, he was third in command to Admiral Lord 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.
Henceforth Bridport was practically in independent command. On 23 June 1795, with his flag in HMS Queen Charlotte
(100), he fought the inconclusive Battle of Groix
against the French under Rear Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
off the Île 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 Great Britain
.
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 afloat save at such critical times as that of the Irish expedition in 1797. He was about to put to sea when the Spithead fleet mutinied
. He succeeded at first in pacifying the crew of his flagship, who had no personal grudge against their admiral, but a few days later the mutiny broke out afresh, and this time was uncontrollable. For a whole week the mutineers were supreme, and it was only by the greatest exertions of the old Lord Howe that order was then restored and the men returned to duty. After the mutiny had been suppressed, Hood took the fleet to sea as commander-in-chief in name as well as in fact, and from 1798 he personally directed the blockade
of Brest
, which grew stricter and stricter as time went on. In 1800 he was relieved by John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
.
In reward for his fine record his peerage was made a viscount
y. He spent the remaining years of his life in retirement. He died on 2 May 1814. The viscountcy in the English peerage died with him; the Irish barony passed to the younger branch of his brother's family, for whom the viscountcy was re-created in 1868.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(2 December 1726 – 2 May 1814) was an officer of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
and Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, and the brother of Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood
Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood was a British Admiral known particularly for his service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars...
.
Early life
He entered the navy in January 1741 and was appointed LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in HMS Bridgewater in 1746. He was promoted to Commander
Commander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
in 1756 and served as flag captain
Flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's...
for Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral
Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "flag officers" or "flag ranks"...
Sir Charles Saunders
Charles Saunders (admiral)
Admiral Sir Charles Saunders, KB was a Royal Navy officer in the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and later served as First Lord of the Admiralty. He was appointed to the Privy Council in 1766.-Early career:...
, first in HMS Prince
HMS Prince (1670)
HMS Prince was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built by Phineas Pett II at Deptford Dockyard and launched in 1670. A contemporary shipyard model and a drawing by Willem van de Velde the Elder give a good impression how she looked...
in the Mediterranean (the flagship of Rear-Admiral Saunders, under whom Hood had served as a lieutenant), then in HMS Minerva
HMS Minerva (1759)
HMS Minerva was one of the four 32-gun Southampton-class fifth-rate frigates of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1759 and served through the American Revolutionary War before being broken up in 1784.- References :...
frigate.
Seven Years' War
In the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
he fought at the Battle of Quiberon Bay
Battle of Quiberon Bay
The naval Battle of Quiberon Bay took place on 20 November 1759 during the Seven Years' War in Quiberon Bay, off the coast of France near St. Nazaire...
on 20 November 1759, and in 1761 Minerva recaptured after a long struggle, the 60-gun HMS Warwick
HMS Warwick (1733)
HMS Warwick was a 60-gun fourth rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, built to the 1719 Establishment at Plymouth Dockyard, and launched on 25 October 1733....
of equal force, which had been captured by the French in 1756. For the remainder of the war, from 1761 to 1763 Hood was captain of HMS Africa
HMS Africa (1761)
HMS Africa was a 64-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 31 January 1761 at Blackwall Yard, London.She was sold out of the service in 1774....
in the Mediterranean.
American War of Independence
From this time forward he was in continuous employment afloat and ashore. In 1778 he was appointed to HMS RobustHMS Robust (1764)
HMS Robust was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 25 October 1764 at Harwich. She was the only vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name....
and fought at the First Battle of Ushant
Battle of Ushant (1778)
The Battle of Ushant took place on 27 July 1778, during the American War of Independence, fought between French and British fleets 100 miles west of Ushant, a French island at the mouth of the English Channel off the north-westernmost point of France...
on 22 July. In the court-martial of Admiral Augustus Keppel
Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel
Admiral Augustus Keppel, 1st Viscount Keppel PC was an officer of the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War and the War of American Independence...
that followed the battle, although adverse popular feeling was aroused by the course which he took in Keppel's defence, his conduct does not seem to have injured his professional career.
In 1780 he was promoted to Rear Admiral of the White, and succeeded Kempenfeldt as one of Howe's flag-officers. In the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, in HMS Queen
HMS Queen (1769)
HMS Queen was a three-deck 90-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 18 September 1769 at Woolwich Dockyard. She was designed by William Bateley, and was the only ship built to her draught...
, he took part in Howe's relief of Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in 1782.
French Revolutionary War
He served in the House of CommonsHouse of Commons of Great Britain
The House of Commons of Great Britain was the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain between 1707 and 1801. In 1707, as a result of the Acts of Union of that year, it replaced the House of Commons of England and the third estate of the Parliament of Scotland, as one of the most significant...
for a time. Promoted vice-admiral in 1787, he became K.B. in the following year, and on the occasion of the Spanish armament in 1790 flew his flag again for a short time. On 22 October 1790 he was a member of the court that acquitted William Bligh
William Bligh
Vice Admiral William Bligh FRS RN was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. A notorious mutiny occurred during his command of HMAV Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift in the Bounty's launch by the mutineers...
of losing his ship . On the outbreak of war with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1793 he went to sea again. In the War of the First Coalition
First Coalition
The War of the First Coalition was the first major effort of multiple European monarchies to contain Revolutionary France. France declared war on the Habsburg monarchy of Austria on 20 April 1792, and the Kingdom of Prussia joined the Austrian side a few weeks later.These powers initiated a series...
, on 1 June 1794, in HMS Royal George
HMS Royal George (1788)
HMS Royal George was a 100-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched from Chatham Dockyard on 16 September 1788. She was designed by Sir Edward Hunt, and was the only other ship built to her draught...
, he was third in command to Admiral Lord Howe
Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Howe, 1st Earl Howe KG was a British naval officer, notable in particular for his service during the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary Wars. He was the brother of William Howe and George Howe.Howe joined the navy at the age of thirteen and served...
at the battle of the Glorious First of June
Glorious First of June
The Glorious First of June [Note A] of 1794 was the first and largest fleet action of the naval conflict between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the First French Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars...
. For his exploits in this battle he was elevated to the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baron Bridport.
Henceforth Bridport was practically in independent command. On 23 June 1795, with his flag in HMS Queen Charlotte
HMS Queen Charlotte (1790)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 100-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 15 April 1790 at Chatham. She was built to the draught of designed by Sir Edward Hunt, though with a modified armament....
(100), he fought the inconclusive Battle of Groix
Battle of Groix
The Second Battle of Groix was a naval engagement that took place on 23 June 1795 during the French Revolutionary War off the west coast of France....
against the French under Rear Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse
Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was a French admiral.-Early career:Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse was born in Auch, in the heart of Gascony. The Villaret de Joyeuse family figured among the minor nobility from Languedoc...
off the Île de Groix
Groix
Groix is an island and a commune in the Morbihan department of the region of Brittany in north-western France.Groix lies a few kilometres of the coast off Lorient. Several ferries a day run from Lorient to 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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and he was promoted to Vice-Admiral of Great Britain
Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom
The Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is an honorary office generally held by a senior Royal Navy admiral. Despite the title, the Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom is usually a full admiral. He is the official deputy to the Lord High Admiral, an honorary office vested in the Sovereign from...
.
From 1795 until his retirement in 1800, he was commander of the Channel Fleet
Channel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
. In 1796 and 1797 he directed the war from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, rarely hoisting his flag afloat save at such critical times as that of the Irish expedition in 1797. He was about to put to sea when the Spithead fleet mutinied
Spithead and Nore mutinies
The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797. There were also discontent and minor incidents on ships in other locations in the same year. They were not violent insurrections, being more in the nature of strikes, demanding better pay and conditions...
. He succeeded at first in pacifying the crew of his flagship, who had no personal grudge against their admiral, but a few days later the mutiny broke out afresh, and this time was uncontrollable. For a whole week the mutineers were supreme, and it was only by the greatest exertions of the old Lord Howe that order was then restored and the men returned to duty. After the mutiny had been suppressed, Hood took the fleet to sea as commander-in-chief in name as well as in fact, and from 1798 he personally directed the blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
of Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, which grew stricter and stricter as time went on. In 1800 he was relieved by John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent
Admiral of the Fleet John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent GCB, PC was an admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom...
.
In reward for his fine record his peerage was made a viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
y. He spent the remaining years of his life in retirement. He died on 2 May 1814. The viscountcy in the English peerage died with him; the Irish barony passed to the younger branch of his brother's family, for whom the viscountcy was re-created in 1868.
See also
- His cousin once removedCousinIn kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...
, also named Alexander HoodAlexander Hood (captain)Captain Alexander Hood was an officer of the Royal Navy, one of several members of the Hood family to serve at sea.-Career:...
(1758–1798), was a captainCaptain (Royal Navy)Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
in the Royal Navy, famous for a duelDuelA duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
between his ship Mars and the French Hercule.