Broke joined the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth Dockyard in 1788, and began active service as a midshipman in 1792.

[2] His most notable accomplishment was his victory while commanding HMS Shannon, over the USS Chesapeake on 1 June 1813, during the War of 1812.

Broke was ordered to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1811 as the diplomatic position between America and Britain deteriorated.

The Americans had a main battery of 24-pounder long guns compared with the smaller 18-pounders mounted on the British ships; the weight refers to the size of the cannonballs.

[3] Matters changed when Shannon met Chesapeake off Boston, Massachusetts in a single ship action.

Broke mounted a number of very small carronades in order that ships' boys and younger midshipmen could have cannon light enough for them to practise on.

The head wound from a cutlass blow, which had exposed the brain, had been very severe accompanied by great blood loss.

Therapeutic bleeding, routinely employed at the time, was not performed by Shannon's surgeon Mr Alexander Jack, which was to Broke's advantage.

"[6] Lieutenant Provo Wallis, a Nova Scotian, took command of Shannon as the frigate and her prize returned to Halifax as surgeons worked to save Broke.

While his wounds precluded further active service, Broke served as a naval gunnery specialist in the Royal Navy.