In Berwick he was present at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781, and afterwards went with Captain Stewart to HMS Cambridge, which was one of the fleet under Lord Howe that relieved Gibraltar in 1782.

After continuous service on the Mediterranean and home stations for the next eight years, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 20 October 1790.

Early in 1795 he came home in the 98-gun HMS Boyne, bearing the flag of Sir John Jervis, and was in her when she was burnt at Spithead on 1 May.

In August 1797 he was appointed to the 28-gun HMS Amphitrite, and in her was actively employed in the West Indies until March 1801, when, after a severe attack of yellow fever, he was sent home with despatches.

He wrote also a pamphlet on the round stem controversy in the form of a letter to Sir Robert Seppings (1824), and developed a system of maritime signalling (London: Thomas Curson Hansard, 1838).