in the Victory, under various admirals until it became Vice Admiral Hyde Parker's flagship, by which time he had moved up to 1st lieutenant. He moved with the Admiral to , in which he was present at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 5 August 1781, when he was wounded. He was promoted commander and appointed to the fireship Tisiphone. In 1782, Saumarez sailed his ship to the West Indies with despatches for Samuel Hood and arrived in time to witness the closing stages of Hood's operations at St Kitts on 25 January 1782. Battle of the Saintes While commanding (74 guns), Saumarez contributed to Rodney's victory over de Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes on (12 April 1782). During the battle and on his own initiative, Saumarez took his ship out of line to assist in the capture of De Grasse's flagship, Ville de Paris. This action prompted Admiral Rodney to remark that, "The Russell's captain is a fine fellow, whoever he is." When the war in America was finished, Saumarez went ashore and did not go to sea again until 1793 when he was given command of the frigate , a 36-gun fifth rate frigate. Action of 20 October 1793 It was in Crescent that Saumarez was involved in one of the first major single-ship actions of the war when he captured the French frigate Reunion, in the action of 20 October 1793. British casualties were exceptionally light, with only one man wounded during the engagement. In reward, Saumarez was knighted by King George III and given a presentation plate by the City of London, although he later received a bill for £103 6s 8d (the equivalent of £9,700 as of 2011), from a Mr. Cooke for "the honour of a knighthood". Saumarez refused to pay, telling Cooke to charge whoever had paid for Edward Pellew's knighthood after his successful action. Saumarez later wrote to his brother that "I think it hard to pay so much for an honour which my services have been thought to deserve". Channel Islands Station (1794) While in command of a Guernsey-based squadron consisting of three frigates, , , and , and some smaller vessels a planned invasion by 20,000 French soldiers of the Channel Islands scheduled for February 1794 was frustrated and cancelled due to Saumarez's vigilant eye. On 8 June 1794 on the way from Plymouth to Guernsey, the squadron,