1798: Lieutenant Matthew Lamb, after the mandatory six years service as a midshipman, has received his commission as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy aboard the HMS Sturdy as the new fourth lieutenant, replacing a man who broke both legs in a fall.
The frigate joins Admiral Jervis off Cadiz. and after patrolling the Strait of Gibraltar, they return to witness a hanging of a mutineer - a man who had the effrontery to present demands to Admiral Jervis.
Sturdy then leaves for the Indian Ocean via the Cape to help track down privateers. The John Company has been losing East Indiamen, and has put pressure on the government to send Royal Navy ships.