The first official mention of his name is as captain of the Adventure in 1648, when Vice-Admiral William Batten carried part of the fleet over to Holland to join Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales.
During 1649 he was employed in the English Channel, cruising off the Lizard or Land's End for the safeguard of merchant ships against pirates and sea-rovers, and on 21 December was ordered specially to attend to Prince Rupert's movements.
In November 1650, still in the Adventure, he was selected to accompany Captain Sir William Penn to the Mediterranean, and was on that voyage for nearly sixteen months, arriving in the Downs on 1 April 1652.
The King of Denmark, on some misunderstanding about the Sound dues, had laid an embargo on about twenty English merchant ships that were in Danish harbours, and it was hoped that the appearance of a respectable force would remove the difficulty.
The fight, the Battle of Portland, lasted throughout the day, and during the whole time the enemy's chief efforts were directed against the Triumph, which suffered heavily in hull of the ship, in rigging, and in men; her captain, Andrew Ball, being one of the killed.