deficiencies in Suckling's report were ignored and he passed. Suckling was immediately promoted and appointed to serve as fourth lieutenant of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Burford. While sailing off Villefranche on 7 February 1746 he was transferred to the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Russell also as fourth lieutenant. On 9 June the following year he moved again, joining the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Boyne at the order of her flag officer, Rear-Admiral John Byng. Having initially served again as fourth lieutenant, Suckling was promoted to become Boynes third on 9 January 1748 and her second on 16 August. With the end of the War of the Austrian Succession Suckling returned home in Boyne, arriving at Spithead on 14 October. He was then on 1 November translated from Boyne into the 50-gun fourth-rate HMS Gloucester as that ship's first lieutenant, which naval historian David Syrett suggests was another appointment brought about by Suckling's patrons. The captain of Gloucester was his relative Townshend. Suckling's position in Gloucester meant that he avoided the unemployment that came to many naval officers when the Royal Navy began to decommission warships in response to the end of the war. Gloucester sailed to join the West Indies Station on 15 May 1749, and Suckling spent the next three years of his career based in the ship at Jamaica. Gloucester finally returned on 16 January 1753, at which time Suckling was appointed second lieutenant of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Somerset, which was the guard ship at Chatham Dockyard. He was promoted to become Somersets first lieutenant on 19 April, before on 2 January 1754 being discharged from the ship. One day later he was promoted to commander. First commands At the same time as his promotion Suckling was given command of the 14-gun sloop HMS Baltimore. The ship was at the time serving on the North America Station, and Suckling took passage out in a merchant ship to join his new command. He did so at Charleston, South Carolina, on 20 May. In Baltimore Suckling spent most of his time patrolling the coast of the Carolinas, with occasional diversions taking him as far north as Boston. On 11 September 1755 Suckling was with his ship at Halifax, Nova Scotia, when Vice-Admiral Edward Boscawen translated him into command of the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Lys, which had