Samuel, Viscount Hood, was undoubtedly the most famous scion of the illustrious Hood family, five of whose members served their county in the Royal Navy with great distinction. Born in 1724, young Samuel Hood entered the navy in 1741 and first saw active service in the Seven Years War (1756-63). Commanding Officer on the North America Station from 1767 to 1770 and promoted Rear Admiral in 1780, the American War of Independence brought him fame and recognition. He handled his squadron with particular skill in the operations in the West Indies which resulted from the widening of the American campaign to include France and then Spain, off Dominica, on 12 April 1782. This earned him a peerage as Baron Hood and, when the war with revolutionary France began in 1793, he was given command of the strategic Mediterranean Fleet. Recalled for political reasons in 1794, he was created 1st Viscount Hood in 1796, the same year as he became Governor of Greenwich Hospital. Considered by Nelson to be one of England's greatest sailors, Lord Hood died at the venerable age of 92 in 1816.