In March 1780 he took command of the newly captured Spanish ship of the line HMS Gibraltar, but only as a nominal command during her refit to British standards at Plymouth Dockyard. In January 1781 he took HMS Formidable for a brief period, but his last active command was on HMS Royal William which had 84 guns and a crew of 750. On 29 August 1782 he was one of the presiding officers in the inquiry into the loss of HMS Royal George upon which 900 persons had died including Captain Richard Kempenfelt.
