Aboard Hero Strachan was part of Commodore George Johnstone's squadron, and was present at the Battle of Porto Praya against the Bailli de Suffren on 16 April 1781.

It was whilst aboard Superb that Strachan was present at the first of four actions that took place between Sir Edward Hughes and de Suffren, the Battle of Sadras on 17 February 1782.

After acquitting himself well, Strachan was promoted by Hughes in January 1783 to the command of the cutter HMS Lizard, and then again on 26 April 1783 to be captain of the corvette Naiad.

In November 1791 she was ordered to stop and search the French frigate Résolue, which was escorting a number of merchant ships believed to be carrying military supplies to support Tippu Sultan.

Trublet de Villejégu, captain of Résolue, insisted on considering his ship as a British prize, so Cornwallis ordered Strachan to tow her into Mahé and return her to the French commodore.

[2] In 1796 Strachan was appointed to command HMS Diamond, after her previous captain, Sir Sidney Smith had been captured during a cutting-out expedition.

On 5 November 1800 he came to the assistance of the stranded and sinking HMS Marlborough, which had struck a ledge of rocks near Isle Grouat during the previous night's gale.

Later that month, on 17 November, Captain chased a French convoy through the Teignouse Passage between Quiberon and the Ile de Houat, and tried to keep them from reaching safety in the Gulf of Morbihan.

The situation changed when the hired armed cutter Nile attacked the corvette and forced her aground in Port Navalo.

The British lost only one man killed, when a shot hit the fluke of Suwarrow's anchor, ricocheted, and struck the head of a sailor.

[4] In January 1801, Strachan almost died when Captain struck a rock off Ushant with such force that she started taking on water at almost 3 inches a minute, which constantly increased.

On arrival he was immediately appointed to HMS Caesar and placed in command of a detached squadron including three ships of the line and four frigates in the Bay of Biscay.

Whilst sailing off Cape Finisterre on 2 November 1805, the squadron encountered four French ships of the line that had escaped from the Battle of Trafalgar under the command of Rear-Admiral Dumanoir le Pelley.

Thick fog and poor weather covered the port in January 1808, and allowed the French to sail out undetected and escape to the Mediterranean.

On 9 June 1809, he was appointed as the naval commander of an expedition, consisting of 264 warships and 352 transports carrying 44,000 troops, to attack the island of Walcheren and destroy the French arsenals in the Scheldt.

Strachan was ill-qualified for the position, lacking both the experience and the temperament to hold a joint command in such a complex combined operation.

Relations with the army's commander, Lord Chatham, quickly became strained and the ambitious Walcheren Campaign ended up being abandoned, having only achieved the capture of Flushing.

[11] A period of angry recriminations followed the withdrawal, with Chatham presenting a narrative to King George III in 1810, blaming Strachan for the expedition's failure.

On Thursday he [Napoleon Bonaparte] gratified the spectators with his appearance frequently on the poop and gangway, on which occasions the British, as well as the French officers, stood uncovered and apart!

[18] Despite the failure of the venture, he was later to declare thatIt is my wish to serve with Strachan, as I know him to be extremely brave and full of zeal and ardour, at the same time that he is an excellent seaman, and, tho' an irregular, impetuous fellow, possessing very quick parts and an uncommon share of sagacity and strong sense.[18]a.