After serving as lieutenant on several ships, Mark Robinson was promoted to captain of the 70-gun third rate HMS Vanguard on 13 August 1760.
Worcester was heavily engaged in the rear division under command of Sir Hugh Palliser.
Nelson served under Robinson on Worcester as acting fourth lieutenant (8 October 1776 – April 1777).
The experience of escorting convoys in the wintery seas to and from Gibraltar completed Nelson's midshipman training.
Nelson was to subsequently write about this period: "But although my age might have been a sufficient cause for not entrusting me with the charge of a Watch, yet Captain Robinson used to say,'he felt as easy when I was upon deck, as any Officer in the ship".