[2] He entered the Navy in April 1785 as a first-class volunteer aboard Dorset,[2] the official yacht of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,[3] commanded by his father in the Irish Sea.
He later served as a midshipman aboard Porcupine, under the command of Captain Lambert Brabazon, for about 21⁄2 years, before joining the 98-gun Impregnable, flagship of Sir Richard Bickerton at Plymouth, late in 1789.
He went on to serve aboard the frigate Lowestoffe, Captain Edmund Dodd, attached to the Channel Fleet, and then in the 50-gun Trusty, flagship of Sir John Laforey on the West Indies Station.
In a short but violent confrontation Glatton attacked the French squadron just before nightfall, her heavy guns doing great damage to the enemy, though she was severely cut up in her sails, rigging and masts.
Unfortunately, the ship was destroyed by an explosion while moored at Plymouth Dock while he was travelling to join her, and it was not until January 1796 that he received command of the 14-gun brig Rambler, in which he served on the coasts of Holland and Norway, at Newfoundland, off Cherbourg, and on the Guernsey and Jersey stations.
In early 1808 Loire and the frigate Success, Captain John Ayscough, sailed to the seas around Greenland on fishery protection duties, venturing as far north as 77° 30' N. At the end of the same year, accompanied by Amelia and Champion, he escorted a convoy of 168 transport ships, carrying 14,000 troops, from Falmouth to Corunna.
He then co-operated with Spanish partisans on the coasts of Galicia, Asturias, and Biscay, brought 100 Russian prisoners-of-war from the Tagus to England, and on 5 February 1809 captured the French ship Hebe[6] (which later served as HMS Ganymede).
He took part in the blockade of Rochefort and L'Orient, and in 1814, with the 74-gun Vengeur and 20-gun Erne, transported troops from Bordeaux to Quebec, somehow managing to cram no less than 1,000 men on board each 74 in addition to their usual complements.
In 1818 he privately circulated a paper Naval Suggestions, outlining his ideas; and in 1832 published his Practical Hints on Building, Rigging, Arming, and Equipping His Majesty's Ships-of-War, &c.[2] Schomberg remained unemployed until on 1 March 1829 he was appointed to the 74-gun Melville.