Admiral Sir Horace Hood

Sir Horace Hood
Horace Hood
Born	2 October 1870 London
Died	31 May 1916 (aged 45) North Sea
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1882 – 1916
Rank	Rear Admiral
Commands held	HMS Hyacinth HMS Berwick HMS Commonwealth HMS Centurion Third Battlecruiser Squadron
Battles/wars	First World War Battle of the Yser Battle of Jutland
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Distinguished Service Order Member of the Royal Victorian Order

Rear Admiral Sir Horace Lambert Alexander Hood KCB DSO MVO (2 October 1870 – 31 May 1916) was a British Royal Navy admiral of the First World War, whose lengthy and distinguished service saw him engaged in operations around the world, frequently participating in land campaigns as part of a shore brigade. His early death at the Battle of Jutland in the destruction of his flagship HMS Invincible was met with mourning and accolades from across Britain.

Admiral Hood was a youthful, vigorous and active officer whose service in Africa won him the Distinguished Service Order and who was posthumously raised to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in recognition of his courageous and ultimately fatal service in the Battle of Jutland, during which his ship was constantly engaged from its arrival at the action and caused fatal damage to a German light cruiser. He has been described as "the beau ideal of a naval officer, spirited in manner, lively of mind, enterprising, courageous, handsome, and youthful in appearance … His lineage was pure Royal Navy, at its most gallant".

Horace Hood was descended from one of the most influential and experienced navy lines, being a great-great-grandson of Admiral Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood, who won numerous actions against the French in the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolutionary Wars. His father was Francis Wheler Hood, 4th Viscount Hood and his mother Edith Lydia Drummond Ward. Born in South Street, London, Hood joined the navy aged just 12, attending HMS Britannia cadet training ship at Dartmouth in 1882. Graduating top of his class in September 1885, Hood joined HMS Temeraire as a midshipman and served on her for a year in the Mediterranean Squadron before joining HMS Minotaur. In 1887 he was attached to HMS Calliope, a small cruiser which sailed for the Pacific Ocean. It was aboard her that Hood experienced the Samoan Hurricane in which Calliope was the only survivor of seven foreign warships in Apia Harbour.

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