recently captured Belle Île, and was then detached in a squadron under Captain Sir Thomas Stanhope. Stanhope's orders were to engage any French shipping left in the Basque Roads, and to destroy fortifications on the Île-d'Aix. The squadron found no ships to attack but between 21 and 22 June Nassau and five other ships were sent on to Aix. Despite interference from French prames based in the Charente they succeeded in their task with only minor losses. Suckling left Nassau in February 1762 to recommission the 66-gun ship of the line HMS Lancaster, returning to his former ship on 22 February. Suckling then stayed in Nassau until the end of the Seven Years' War, paying off his ship at the Nore in February 1763. Suckling's fortune to find employment at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession did not now repeat itself, and he went ashore on half pay, probably living at his home in Woodton, Norfolk. After seven years in such a position Suckling's services were called upon again for the Falklands Crisis in 1770. As the Royal Navy began mobilising in the expectation of war he was given command of the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Raisonnable, which was fitting out at Chatham, on 17 November. Patron of Nelson Suckling's sister Catherine had died on 26 December 1767, leaving behind three sons; William, Maurice, and Horatio Nelson. Suckling and his brother subsequently took an interest in promoting the careers of their nephews, and when Suckling took command of Raisonnable he brought Horatio with him, appointing him a midshipman. Suckling, who had told tales of his naval exploits to Horatio while on half pay, accepted him at the direct request of Nelson's father Edmund and did not himself think that it was the right choice, saying: Despite this attitude Suckling was happy to use his influence for Nelson; he wrote him into Raisonnables books on 1 January 1771 rather than in March or April when Nelson actually joined the ship so that he could have several extra months of seniority. This was Nelson's first sea service although Raisonnable never left the Thames Estuary during Suckling's command, which ended with the de-escalation of tensions and the decommissioning of the ship. On 13 May Suckling was instead given command of the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Triumph, continuing to support Nelson by taking him with him to