promoted to post captain in 1780, pakenham briefly served as commander-in-chief of the jamaica station in 1785 before going on to command the third-rate hms "gibraltar" in 1796 and the third-rate hms "ajax" in july 1798 in the channel. promoted to rear-admiral in 1799 and to vice-admiral in 1804, he died at lowestoft in suffolk in 1807.