Martin joined the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth in August 1785 and went to sea for the first time as a captain's servant aboard the sixth-rate HMS Pegasus, captained by Prince William Henry, on the North American Station in April 1786 [REF].
Promoted to lieutenant on 22 October 1790, Martin served in the third-rate HMS Canada in the Channel Squadron and subsequently in the fifth-rate HMS Inconstant and the fifth-rate HMS Juno [REF].