Hood served in the House of Commons for a time. Promoted vice-admiral in 1787, he became Knight Companion of the Bath in the following year, and on the occasion of the Spanish Armament in 1790 flew his flag again for a short time. On 22 October 1790 he was a member of the court that acquitted William Bligh of losing his ship . On the outbreak of war with France in 1793 he went to sea again. In the War of the First Coalition, on 1 June 1794, in (100), he was third in command to Admiral Lord Howe at the battle of the Glorious First of June. For his exploits in this battle he was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Bridport and received the large Naval Gold Medal and chain.