| He joined the Royal Navy as an Able-Seaman RN 1757. He served in HMS Duke 1757. He served in HMS Shrewsbury. He was appointed as a Midshipman RN 1761.He served as Master's Mate in HMS Tweed. He served in HMS Emerald, HMS Princess Amelia, HMS Asia. He was appointed as a Lieutenant RN (With seniority dated 02/06/1776). He served in HMS Canceaux (In command) 1776. He was placed in charge of assembling ships to battle the American Revolutionaries on Lake Champlain. In less than six weeks, he constructed the HMS Inflexible (300 tons), which he then commanded as part of a fleet that defeated Gen. Benedict Arnold's fleet in October 1776. His talents as an engineer were applied in Gen. John Burgoyne's expedition to the building of floating bridges. He was appointed as the commander of the Provincial Marine "Commissioner of all His Majesty's Naval Yards or Docks upon the Lakes, with power to controul and direct the construction repair and equipment of all vessels in the yards and docks aforesaid." in 1778. He was appointed as a Commander RN (With seniority dated 04/04/1780). He was appointed as a Captain (RN) (With seniority dated 15/08/1783). He introduced to the Admiralty his design for ships with a sliding keel which allowed navigation of shallow waters. His design was tested successfully and incorporated by the Admiralty into several larger vessels, most notably the Lady Nelson, which explored parts of Australia. HMS Cynthia, a 16-gun ship sloop launched in 1796, had three sliding keels. He was appointed as a Rear-Admiralof the Blue RN (With seniority dated 09/11/1805). He was appointed as an Admiral of the Blue RN (With seniority dated 19/07/1821). |
