Hunter Wood was born in 1908 at Babylon, Long Island, the son of the famous marine painter Worden George Wood who served aboard the Clipper "Yankee" in the Spanish-American War and the great-grandson of John L. Worden who commanded the Monitor in its fight against the Merrimac in the Civil War.

After a brief period of formal education, Hunter Wood at seventeen, entered the New York Merchant Marine Academy, and his experiences at sea became the references for the subject matter of his paintings. He was first on the training ship Newport, a three masted barkentine, single topsail and top-gallant, the old order windjammer of the heavy canvas type, sailing the seven seas. After his graduation, at the age of twenty-five, Wood sailed as quartermaster for several of the large shipping companies, barging back and forth from one ship to another, the last of which was the Leviathan.

In his maritime paintings, Wood attempts to have accuracy in details such as rigging and proportions.