[2] Tha accession of Queen Anne and the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1702 brought Dilkes a new command: the 80-gun Somerset.

He took part in the expedition to Cadiz under Sir George Rooke, who transferred his flag to that ship during the battle of Vigo Bay, deeming his flagship the Royal Sovereign too large to enter the harbour.

[5] In July of that year he led his fleet in an operation described by William Laird Clowes as "one of the most brilliant of the early part of the war.

[6] He spent the next few months based in Cork, escorting convoys and patrolling the entrance to the English Channel, before returning to Spithead just in time to avoid the Great Storm of 1703 on 26 November.

12 March], he led the Kent, Bedford and Antelope in the pursuit and capture of three Spanish warships: Porta Cœli, Santa Theresa and St.

[3] He was not present at the capture of Gibraltar, but soon afterwards took a prominent part in the battle of Málaga as rear-admiral of the white squadron, in acknowledgment of which he was knighted by the Queen on 22 October shortly after his return to England.

[4] He was promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red on 18 January 1705, and sent to escort a convoy of merchant ships to Lisbon the following month, hoisting his flag in the Revenge.

They continually bombarded the town, destroying two French ships and damaging three more, until being driven off by shore batteries the following morning.

Dilkes was left in command of the Mediterranean fleet and went to Barcelona to confer with Archduke Charles, the Habsburg claimant to the Spanish throne.

[4] Charles wanted him to invade Sardinia and concentrate on defending the coast of Catalonia, but as these projects did not fit with his orders from London, Dilkes declined.

[4] His death coming so soon after his dispute with the grand-ducal court led to rumours that he had been poisoned; John Campbell, for example, writing that his fever was "caused, as most people imagined, by an Italian dinner.

According to John Charnock, "as for the character of this brave and unfortunate man we find much to applaud and nothing to censure [...] the respect of those who were his superiors in command he always possessed; the service on which he was ordered, he constantly did his utmost to accomplish.

"[3] In 1703, Dilkes was returned to the Irish House of Commons as a Member of Parliament (MP) for the borough of Castlemartyr in County Cork.