Hood, ALEXANDER

Hood, ALEXANDER, Lord Bridport, admiral, born in 1727, was the younger son of the vicar of Thorncombe, near Axminster, and younger brother of the more famous Viscount Hood. The date of his entry into the service was 1741. Both the Hoods entered under the patronage of Admiral Smith, called 'Tom of Ten Thousand.' There has been some confusion between the exploits of the brothers—thus a victory at Hyères, in command of the Antelope in 1757, has been erroneously attributed to the younger brother. In 1746 Alexander Hood became lieutenant, and in 1756 attained the command of the Prince George (90 guns). After service in the Mediterranean and Channel under Saunders and Hawke, he again distinguished himself in 1760, while in command of the Minerva frigate (32 guns), by recapturing from the French the Warwick, a 60-gun ship, formerly English, but now armed with 34 guns. During the war of American independence he served much under Keppel, Rodney, and Howe in the Channel and the Strait of Gibraltar. In the notorious Keppel court-martial he appeared not wholly to his credit. During the French revolutionary war he served in the Channel with distinction, having a share in 1794 in the 'glorious first of June' off Ushant, and afterwards in command of blockading squadrons. He attained flag rank in 1780, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Bridport of Cricket St Thomas, Somerset, in 1796, and Viscount Bridport in 1800. He died 3d May 1814. See the Naval Chronicle, vol. i.; the Rev. T. Keppel's Life of Lord Keppel; and Lord Bridport's Letters, edited by Hannay for the Navy Records Society (1895).