During the War of the Spanish Succession, Shovell commanded a squadron which served under Admiral George Rooke at the capture of Gibraltar and the Battle of Málaga.

He also commanded the naval element of a combined attack on Toulon, base of the main French fleet, in coordination with the Austrian army under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the summer of 1707.

[5] He set himself to study navigation, and, owing to his able seamanship and brave disposition, became a general favourite and obtained quick promotion.

[4] Promoted to midshipman on 22 January 1672, he was assigned to the first-rate HMS Royal Prince, flagship of the Duke of York, and saw action when a combined British and French fleet was surprised and attacked by the Dutch, led by Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, at the Battle of Solebay off the Suffolk coast in May 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.

He saw action again when a combined British and French fleet attempting to land troops in the Netherlands was repelled by a smaller Dutch force, again led by Admiral de Ruyter, at the Battle of Texel in August 1673.

[3] Promoted to lieutenant on 25 September 1673, he transferred to the third-rate HMS Harwich in 1675 and took part in an action against the pirate stronghold at Tripoli.

In a letter from the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys recorded the King's satisfaction with Shovell's actions; he transferred to the third-rate HMS Plymouth in May 1677 and was sent to the Mediterranean.

At Barfleur Shovell's flagship was the first ship to break through the enemy's line, and in the latter stages of the battle he organised a fireship attack.

He received a wound in the thigh during the action, which later incapacitated him during preparations for the attack which destroyed the French ships that had taken refuge at La Hogue.

[3] He commanded the naval element of a combined attack on Toulon, base of the main French fleet, in coordination with the Austrian army under Prince Eugene of Savoy in the summer of 1707.

[3] While returning with the fleet to England after the campaign at Toulon, Shovell's flagship, the second-rate HMS Association, struck the rocks near the Isles of Scilly at 8 pm on 22 October (2 November, by the modern calendar) 1707.

It was possible that Shovell left his flagship in one of its boats along with his two stepsons and the captain of HMS Association, Edmund Loades, and that they were drowned while trying to get to shore.

[14] By order of Queen Anne the body was later exhumed and brought back in the fourth-rate HMS Salisbury to Plymouth, where it was embalmed by Dr James Yonge.

He was interred in Westminster Abbey on 22 December 1707: his large marble monument in the south choir aisle was sculpted by Grinling Gibbons.

[3] Local legend has it that Shovell was alive, at least barely, when he reached the shore of Scilly at Porthellick Cove but was murdered by a woman for the sake of his priceless emerald ring, which had been given to him by a close friend, Captain James Lord Dursley.

It is claimed that the murder came to light only some thirty years later when the woman, on her deathbed, confessed to a clergyman to having killed the admiral and produced the stolen ring, which was sent back to Dursley.

[3][11] Several historians doubt the murder story as there is no indication that the ring was recovered and the legend stems from a romantic and unverifiable deathbed confession.