These letters were written by the then Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood in 1781-1783; some are his official reports to the Admiralty, others private letters, chiefly to his friend George Jackson, Second Secretary of the Admiralty, in which he freely gives his low opinion of his successive senior officers, Graves and Rodney. There is also some semi-official correspondence between Hood and Rodney, and extensive extracts from Hood’s official journal.