British naval captain
Born 1758 Died 1798
Captain Alexander Hood, elder brother of Samuel Hood, entered the Royal Navy in 1767, and accompanied Captain Cook in his second voyage round the world. Under Howe and Rodney he distinguished himself in the West Indies, and at the victory of April 12th, 1782, he was in command of one of Rodney's frigates. Under Sir Samuel Hood he then proceeded to the Mona passage, where he captured the French corvette Ceres. With the commander of his prize, the Baron de Peroy, Hood became very intimate, and during the peace he paid a long visit to France as his late prisoner's guest.
In the early part of the Revolutionary war, ill health kept him at home, and it was not until 1797 that he went afloat again. His first experience was bitter; his ship, the Mars, was unenviably prominent in the mutiny at Spithead. On April 21st, 1798, occurred the famous duel of the Mars with the Hercule, fought in the dusk near the Bec du Raz. The two ships were of equal force, but the Hercule was newly commissioned, and after over an hours fighting at close quarters she struck her flag, having lost over three hundred men. The captain of the Mars was mortally wounded early in the fight, and died as the sword of the French captain was being put in his hand. The latter, L'Heritier, also died of his wounds.
See Naval Chronicle, vi. 175; Ralfe, Naval Biographies, iv. 48; James, Naval history, and Chevalier, Histoire de la marine francaise sous la premiere republique.
A public domain text from 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, originally included as a continuation of the entry for HOOD, SIR SAMUEL, the original text begins "His elder brother, Captain Alexander Hood", which has been amended to read "Captain Alexander Hood, elder brother of Samuel Hood".