Arthur Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon

For other people and ships titled Admiral Hood, see Admiral Hood.

The Lord Hood of Avalon
Lord Hood of Avalon
Born	14 July 1824
Died	15 November 1901
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1836 - 1889
Commands held	HMS Pylades HMS Excellent HMS Monarch
Battles/wars	Crimean War Second Opium War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath

Admiral Arthur William Acland Hood, 1st Baron Hood of Avalon GCB (14 July 1824 – 15 November 1901), was an officer of the Royal Navy who held command during the Crimean War and later served as First Naval Lord.

Early life

Hood was the younger son of Sir Alexander Hood, 2nd Baronet, of St Audries, Somerset. His grandfather, Captain Alexander Hood, was killed in action during the French Revolutionary Wars; he fell whilst in command of HMS Mars, in action with the French 74-gun ship Hercule on 21 April 1798.

Naval career

At the age of twelve Hood entered the Royal Navy, and whilst still a boy saw active service on the north coast of Spain, and afterwards on the coast of Syria. He went out to the Cape of Good Hope as gunnery mate of the President, the flagship of Rear Admiral James Richard Dacres. On 9 January 1846, Dacres promoted him to lieutenant. As gunnery lieutenant Hood continued in the President till 1849; and in the following year was appointed to the frigate Arethusa.

The outbreak of the Crimean War made the commission a very long one; and on 27 November 1854 Hood was promoted to Commander in recognition of his service with the Naval Brigade before Sebastopol. In 1856 he commissioned the brig Acorn for the China Station, and arrived in time to take part in the destruction of the junks in the Battle of Fatshan Creek on 1 June 1857, and in the capture of Canton in the following December, for which, in February 1858, he received his commission as a post-captain.

From 1862 to 1866 he commanded the HMS Pylades on the North American station, and was then appointed to the command of the HMS Excellent and the government of the Royal Naval College at Portsmouth. This was essentially a gunnery appointment, and on the expiration of three years Hood was made Director of Naval Ordnance. In June 1874 he was appointed to the command of the HMS Monarch in the Channel Fleet, from which he was relieved in March 1876 by his promotion to flag rank. From 1877 to 1879 he was Second Naval Lord, and from 1880 to 1882 he commanded the Channel Fleet, becoming vice-admiral on 23 July 1880.

In June 1885 he was appointed First Naval Lord of the Admiralty. He was promoted to full Admiral in July 1885. In July 1889, on attaining the age of sixty-five, he was placed on the retired list and resigned his post at the Admiralty.

Later years

After two years of continued ill-health, he died on 15 November 1901, and was buried at Butleigh on the 23rd. He had been made KCB in December 1885, GCB in September 1889; and in February 1892 was raised to the peerage as Baron Hood of Avalon, in the County of Somerset. The title became extinct on his death.

Family

In 1855 he married Fanny Henrietta, daughter of Sir C.F. Maclean.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Military offices
Preceded by Sir Geoffrey Hornby	Second Naval Lord 1877–1879	Succeeded by Earl of Clanwilliam
Preceded by Lord John Hay	Commander-in-Chief, Channel Fleet 1880–1882	Succeeded by Sir William Dowell
Preceded by Sir Astley Cooper Key	First Naval Lord 1885–1886	Succeeded by Lord John Hay
Preceded by Lord John Hay	First Naval Lord 1886–1889	Succeeded by Sir Richard Vesey Hamilton
Peerage of the United Kingdom
New creation	Baron Hood of Avalon 1892–1901	Extinct