Samuel Hood | |
|---|---|
 Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet, portrait by unknown artist, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich | |
| Born | 27 November 1762 (1762-11-27) |
| Died | December 24, 1814(1814-12-24) (aged 52) Madras, India |
| Allegiance |  Great Britain United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1776-1814 |
| Rank | Vice-Admiral |
| Commands | HMSJuno HMSAigle HMSZealous HMSVenerable East Indies Station Leeward Islands Station |
| Battles / wars | First Battle of Ushant, 1778 Battle of the Saintes, 1782 Battle of the Nile, 1798 |
| Awards | Order of Saint Ferdinand and of Merit Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of the Sword Knight of the Order of the Bath |
| Relations | AdmiralSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724–1816); AdmiralAlexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726–1814) |
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Vice-AdmiralSir Samuel Hood, 1st Baronet,KB (27 November 1762 – 24 December 1814)[3] was aRoyal Navy officer and politician who served as aMember of Parliament forWestminster in 1806. He is not to be confused with his father's first cousin AdmiralSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724–1816) who sponsored both him and his elder brother CaptainAlexander Hood (1758–1798) into the Royal Navy.[4]
He was born on 27 November 1762, the 3rd son of Samuel Hood (1715–1805), apurser in the Royal Navy, of Kingsland in the parish of Netherbury in Dorset,[5] by his wife Anne Bere, a daughter of James Bere of Westbury in Wiltshire.[6] His father's first cousins were the famous brothers AdmiralSamuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood (1724–1816) and AdmiralAlexander Hood, 1st Viscount Bridport (1726–1814), sons of Rev. Samuel Hood (1691/2-1777), Vicar ofButleigh andprebendary ofWells Cathedral both in Somerset and Vicar of Thorncombe inDevon. The 1st Baronet's two elder brothers were also naval officers, like Samuel all "gallant Dorset sailors" (as the latter's 1914 monument in Netherbury Church records[7][8]), namely Captain Arthur Hood (1755–1775) (drowned while serving in the West Indies on boardHMS Pomona) and CaptainAlexander Hood (1758–1798) (killed in the hour of victory while commandingHMS Mars in her famous duel with the French ship 'Hercule').[9] The mural monument in Butleigh Church to the 1st Baronet and his brothers is inscribed with verse by the poetRobert Southey, including the lines referring to their early lives and kinsmen:
Divided far by death were they whose names
In honour here united as in birth
This monumental verse records they drew
Among the western hills their natal breath
And from those shores beheld the ocean first
Whereon in early youth with one accord
They chose their way of fortune; to that course
By HOOD and BRIDPORT's bright example drawn
Their kinsmen, children of this place, and sons
Of one who in his faithful ministry
Inculcated within these hallowed walls
The truths of mercy to mankind reveal'd
He entered the Royal Navy in 1776 at the start of theAmerican War of Independence.[10] His first engagement was theFirst Battle of Ushant on 27 July 1778, and, soon afterwards transferred to the West Indies, he was present, under the command of his cousin, at all the actions which culminated in AdmiralGeorge Rodney's victory of 12 April 1782 in theBattle of the Saintes.
After the peace, like many other British naval officers, Hood spent some time in France, and on his return to England was given the command of a sloop, from which he proceeded in succession to various frigates. In the 32-gunfifth-ratefrigateJuno his gallant rescue of some shipwrecked seamen won him a vote of thanks and a sword of honour from theJamaica assembly.[10]
Early in 1793, after the outbreak of theFrench Revolutionary Wars, Hood went to the Mediterranean inJuno under his cousin Lord Hood, and distinguished himself by an audacious feat of coolness and seamanship in extricating his vessel from the harbour ofToulon, which he had entered in ignorance of Lord Hood's withdrawal. In 1795, inAigle, he was put in command of a squadron for the protection ofLevantine commerce, and in early 1797 he was given command of the 74-gunship of the lineZealous, in which he was present at AdmiralHoratio Nelson's unsuccessful attack onSanta Cruz de Tenerife. Captain Hood conducted the negotiations which relieved the squadron from the consequences of its failure.[10]
Zealous played an important part at theBattle of the Nile. Her first opponent was put out of action in twelve minutes. Hood immediately engaged other ships, theGuerriere being left powerless to fire a shot.
When Nelson left the coast ofEgypt, Hood commanded the blockading force offAlexandria andRosetta. Later he rejoined Nelson on the coast of theKingdom of the Two Sicilies, receiving for his services the order of St Ferdinand.[10]
In the 74-gun third-rateVenerable Hood was present at theBattle of Algeciras on 8 July 1801 and the action in theStraits of Gibraltar that followed. In the Straits his ship suffered heavily, losing 130 officers and men.
In 1802, Hood was employed inTrinidad as a commissioner, and, upon the death of the flag officer commanding theLeeward Islands Station, he succeeded him ascommodore.[11] Island after island fell to him, and soon, outsideMartinique, the French had scarcely a foothold in theWest Indies. Amongst other measures Hood took one may mention the garrisoning ofDiamond Rock, which he commissioned as a sloop-of-war to blockade the approaches of Martinique. For these successes he was, amongst other rewards, appointed aKnight Companion of the Order of the Bath (KB).[10]
In command next of the squadron blockadingRochefort, Sir Samuel Hood lost an arm during theaction of 25 September 1806 against a French frigate squadron. Promoted toRear Admiral a few days after this action, Hood was in 1807 entrusted with the operations againstMadeira, which he brought to a successful conclusion.[10]
In 1808 Hood sailed to theBaltic Sea, with his flag in the 74-gunCentaur, to take part in theRusso-Swedish war. In one of the actions of this warCentaur andImplacable, while unsupported by the Swedish ships (which lay to leeward), cut out the Russian 50-gun shipSevolod from the enemy's line and, after a desperate fight, forced her to strike. KingGustav IV Adolf of Sweden rewarded Admiral Hood with the Grand Cross of theOrder of the Sword.[10] He became a baronet on 1 April 1809.[12]
Having been present in the roads ofA Coruña at the re-embarkation of the army of SirJohn Moore after theBattle of A Coruña, Hood thence returned to the Mediterranean, where for two years he commanded a division of the British fleet. On 1 August 1811 he was promoted tovice admiral.[10]
He departed Portsmouth at the end of September with his family and Captain Webley aboard HMSOwen Glendower 36 under Captain Bryan Hodgson. They were put back into Lymington within days due to bad weather. He departed again at the end of October. After a very rough voyage, Hood eventually arrived at Madras in 1812 where he took HMSIllustrious 74 as his flagship in his last command, that of Commander in Chief of theEast Indies Station. He moved with Captain Webley to HMSMinden 74 once she was brought out from Portsmouth by Captain Alexander Skene in January 1813.Minden remained as his flagship through December 1814 with his friend Captain George Henderson taking command in April 1814.[13][14][15] "In the summer of 1814 [Admiral Hood] made a voyage, in his majesty’s shipMinden, to the eastern parts of his station.”[16] He eventually arrived at Semarang, Java on 29 June 1814. Hood then "sailed on theMinden from Batavia on 1 August 1814 for Madras.[17][18]
While serving in theEast Indies Station - "His command was uneventful, the war [in that area] having been brought to an end with the reduction of Java and Mauritius: and the time was mainly occupied in regulating and reforming points of organization or discipline and the methods of victualling, in which he introduced some substantial reforms, effecting a saving to the government of something like thirty per cent.”[19]
He marriedMary Elizabeth Frederica Mackenzie, eldest daughter and heiress ofFrancis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, but left no issue.
Hood was about to retire and return to England. Rear-AdmiralSir George Burlton had been appointed to succeed him, but before the exchange could take place Hood died at Madras on 24 December 1814 after a three-day fever following a visit to Tippoo Sahib's former palace atSrirangapatna.[13] "In him it may truly be said, that the British nation lost one of its most experienced and gallant defenders, a long-tried friend and companion of the Immortal Nelson."[20] He was buried atSt. Mary's Church, Madras, where survives his mural monument. The heir to his baronetcy, underspecial remainder, was his nephewSir Alexander Hood, 2nd Baronet (1793–1851), son of his elder brother CaptainAlexander Hood (1758–1798) by his wife Elizabeth Periam, daughter and sole heiress of John Periam (1714–1788) of Wootton House[21][22][23] (alias "Butleigh Wootton") in the parish ofButleigh, Somerset.
A lofty column, theAdmiral Hood Monument, was raised to his memory on a hill on the Wootton House estate,3⁄4 of a mile (1.2 of a km) to the south-west of Wootton House,[24]Butleigh, Somerset, inherited by his nephew and heirSir Alexander Hood, 2nd Baronet (1793–1851) from his mother Elizabeth Periam. The Butleigh connection started with Sir Samuel Hood's great uncle (and the father of his two famous Admiral cousins) Rev. Samuel Hood (1689–1777) who was Vicar ofButleigh and of Thorncombe inSomerset and was aPrebendary ofWells Cathedral. The south face of its base is inscribed:[25]
Other monuments survive in Butleigh Church (with an inscription written by the poetRobert Southey) and inSt. Mary's Church, Madras. TheHoods Tower Museum inTrincomalee,Sri Lanka, gains its name from thefire control tower named after him atFort Ostenburg.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hood, Sir Samuel".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.| Military offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, Leeward Islands Station 1802 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Commander-in-Chief, East Indies Station 1811–1814 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forWestminster 1806–1807 With:Richard Brinsley Sheridan | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBridport 1807–1812 With:Sir Evan Nepean | Succeeded by |
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Baronet (of St Audries) 1809–1814 | Succeeded by |
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| National | |
| Other | |
