[1][2] His uncle (younger brother of his father, James), an influential figure in the East India Company, was also named Streynsham Master.
Master entered the navy under Captain George Byng, who had married his sister, Margaret.
In the Battle of Cape Passaro off the southern tip of Sicily, 31 July 1718, Master made himself prominent.
The Superbe and HMS Kent together engaged the Real San Felipe, the Spanish flagship, till, having beaten her to a standstill, she was boarded and taken by a party from the Superbe, led by Thomas Arnold, her first lieutenant.
He had married, only four months before, Elizabeth, only daughter and heiress of Richard, son of Sir Henry Oxenden, 1st Baronet, but left no issue.