Philemon Pownoll entered the navy in about 1748, joining the 64-gun . He passed his lieutenant's examination on 7 April 1755, at which point his age was recorded as 'upwards of twenty', and was promoted to lieutenant on 7 October 1755. He was at first appointed to be second lieutenant of the 60-gun , and was later moved to the 100-gun . Pownoll continued to serve in the Navy with the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, and in 1758 was moved to the 90-gun . Namur was at this time the flagship of Admiral Edward Boscawen, who became Pownoll's patron and rapidly promoted him from fourth to first lieutenant, and then on 6 August 1759 to commander of the sloop . Command Pownoll commanded Favourite for the next two years, and in mid-1761 was sailing as part of a squadron off Cadiz under Captain Charles Proby, consisting of the 74-gun ships and and the 44-gun . Two French ships, the 64-gun Achille and the frigate Bouffonne escaped the port on 16 July, but were chased down and brought to action the following day by the British squadron. After a fierce fight, both ships were captured. Pownoll was still in command by May 1762, when Favourite was one of the ships sent by Admiral Sir Charles Saunders to guard Cape St Vincent. On 15 May Favourite was sailing in company with Captain Herbert Sawyer's frigate off Cape St Mary, when a Spanish ship was sighted and chased down. Once captured she was found to be the Spanish register ship Hermione, which had sailed from Lima on 6 January bound for Cadiz with a valuable cargo of bags of dollars, gold coin, ingots of gold and silver, cocoa, and blocks of tin. The Hermione was taken into Gibraltar and eventually condemned as a prize, with her contents, hull, and fittings valued at £519,705 10s. 0d., approximately £ at today's prices. Pownoll and Sawyer each received captain's shares of the prize money of £64,872, approximately £ at today's prices, amounting to one of the largest individual sums obtained in the period. The ordinary seamen received £480 each, equivalent to thirty years' wages. Coincidentally Sawyer and Pownoll had been courting two sisters, the daughters of a Lisbon merchant, but had been rejected for their lack of funds. Now suddenly extremely wealthy, the two captains married the sisters. Pownoll used his money to buy