Little Lucy and command at nineteen

HMS Lowestoffe captured enough prizes during the American War of Independence to send some captured craft out after further prizes. One of them, Little Lucy, became Nelson's first independent command while he was only nineteen. He used it for cruising, prize-taking, and work around the Caicos Islands while building the confidence of Captain William Locker and Admiral Peter Parker. The episode shows how an aggressive prize system could turn a junior officer's training into real command responsibility only six years after entering the Navy.