this position, he received his lieutenant's commission on 1 December 1788 and went on to serve during the Spanish armament in 1789 and the Russian armament in 1791. He was first aboard the 74-gun under Captain John Gell, later following him to the 100-gun , flying the flag of Admiral Lord Hood. French Revolutionary Wars Macnamara continued to serve with Hood aboard Victory after the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in 1793. He took part in the occupation of Toulon and was promoted by Hood to the rank of master and commander on 22 October 1793, at about the time of the evacuation of the port. He was appointed acting captain of the 74-gun , followed by the 32-gun . Despite these commands an official mistake meant that his commission as post captain was dated 6 October 1795. Southampton was assigned to a squadron commanded by Commodore Horatio Nelson, supporting the Austrian army in Genoa. Command of Southampton Macnamara then spent 15 days in September 1795 blockading a French grain convoy in the port of Genoa. The convoy was protected by two frigates, the Vestale and the Brun. The French finally came out on the evening of the fifteenth day, and were engaged by Southampton, despite the French possessing considerably more firepower. After a sustained engagement Southampton forced Vestale to strike her colours while the Brun escaped with the convoy, leaving Vestale to her fate. But as Southampton prepared to lower her boats to take possession of the French ship, her foremast, which had been damaged during the engagement, went by the board. Taking advantage of this, Vestale raised her colours and escaped from the scene. Macnamara had another chance to distinguish himself, when on 9 June 1796 a French corvette was sighted entering Hyères bay, and Vice-Admiral Sir John Jervis, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, summoned Macnamara to his flagship, HMS Victory. He asked Macnamara to bring out the French ship if he could. Recognising the difficulty and risk that would be involved, he did not make it a formal written order, instead instructing Macnamara 'bring out the enemy's ship if you can; I'll give you no written order; but I direct you to take care of the king's ship under your command.' Macnamara promptly took his ship in under the guns of the batteries, and apparently having been mistaken for a French or neutral frigate, closed to