sentences:  John Cooke first went to sea at the age of eleven aboard the cutter under Lieutenant John Bazely, before going ashore to spend time at Mr Braken's naval academy at Greenwich.He was entered onto the books of one of the royal yachts by Sir Alexander Hood, who would become an enduring patron of Cooke's.In 1776 he obtained a position as a midshipman on the ship of the line , aged thirteen.